bluebird bio, an emerging leader in the development of innovative gene therapies for severe genetic disorders, today announced the appointment of Alexandre P. LeBeaut, M.D., as chief medical officer. Dr. LeBeaut has more than 20 years of industry experience working with specialty pharmaceutical companies.
"We are delighted to welcome Alex to our team," said Nick Leschly, president and chief executive officer of bluebird bio. "Alex brings extensive global development experience in clinical development, regulatory strategy and portfolio management to the team at a critical time in our evolution. His leadership will be invaluable as we continue to advance our clinical trials and bring transformative gene therapies to patients with severe genetic disorders."
Dr. LeBeaut brings significant medical and scientific knowledge to bluebird bio, possessing more than 20 years of broad experience working with specialty pharmaceutical companies, as well as experience in a range of therapeutic areas including infectious diseases, gastroenterology and pediatrics. Most recently, Dr. LeBeaut served as chief scientific officer at Axcan Pharma, Inc. Prior to that, he was vice president, US medical affairs at Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals. Dr. LeBeaut has also held senior clinical positions with Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Schering-Plough. Dr. LeBeaut earned his M.D. and University Diploma in AIDS & other retroviruses infections from the University of Paris VII and received a post graduate diploma specialized in pediatrics from the University of Paris V.
"I am thrilled to be joining the bluebird bio team at this point in the company's progress," said Dr. LeBeaut. "As a growing number of gene therapy trials are yielding increasingly promising results, it's an exciting time to be part of shaping bluebird bio's clinical development strategy for its proprietary lentiviral technology. I look forward to contributing to the advancement of bluebird bio's therapies and identifying additional rare and difficult-to-treat diseases where our innovative gene therapy platform has potential to significantly improve patients' care and well-being."
About bluebird bio
bluebird bio is developing innovative gene therapies for severe genetic disorders. At the heart of bluebird bio's product creation efforts is its broadly applicable gene therapy platform for the development of novel treatments for diseases with few or no clinical options. The company's novel approach uses stem cells harvested from the patient's bone marrow into which a healthy version of the disease causing gene is inserted. After being grown in culture, those cells are given back to the patient. bluebird bio's approach represents a true paradigm shift in the treatment of severe genetic diseases by eliminating the potential complications associated with donor cell transplantation and presenting a one-time transformative therapy. bluebird bio has two later stage clinical products in development for childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CCALD) and beta-thalassemia/sickle cell anemia. Led by a world-class team, bluebird bio is privately held and backed by top-tier life sciences investors, including Third Rock Ventures, TVM Capital, Forbion Capital Partners, Easton Capital and Genzyme Ventures. Its operations are located in Cambridge, Mass. and Paris, France. For more information, please visit www.bluebirdbio.com.