AVROBIO Expands Senior Management Team With Three Key Hires

Industry Veterans Bring Deep Industry Experience to Support Future Growth

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AVROBIO, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing transformative, life-changing gene therapies for rare diseases and cancer, today announced the expansion of its senior management with three key hires. Nerissa Kreher, MD, MS, MBA joins as Chief Medical Officer for Rare Diseases, Kathryn McNaughton, PhD joins as Senior Vice President of Portfolio and Program Management and Richard Pfeifer, PhD, DABT joins as Director of Preclinical Development.

“I am delighted to welcome Nerissa, Kathryn and Richard to the AVROBIO team”

“I am delighted to welcome Nerissa, Kathryn and Richard to the AVROBIO team,” said Geoff MacKay, AVROBIO’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “They bring the right mix of functional knowledge, biotech expertise and business acumen that strategically complement our current high performing senior management team comprised of industry veterans. Their deep industry experience enables us to accelerate development of our clinical stage programs in Fabry disease and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and expand our pipeline in rare diseases and solid and liquid cancers. These individuals are valuable additions to our management team and we look forward to their contributions.”

Dr. Kreher is a pediatric endocrinologist with deep academic, clinical research and biotechnology industry experience. She has held leadership roles in both clinical development and medical affairs within private start-up biotechnology and large biotechnology companies focused on rare diseases. Most recently Dr. Kreher was the Global Head of Clinical and Medical Affairs at Zafgen, Inc. Formerly she held roles of increasing responsibility at Shire, Alexion, Enobia Pharma, Genzyme and EMD Serono. Dr. Kreher received a BA from the University of North Carolina, an MD from East Carolina University School of Medicine, an MS in Clinical Research from Indiana University and an Executive MBA from Northeastern University.

Dr. McNaughton has 20 years of experience in the biotech industry encompassing R&D, Program Management and assessment of business development opportunities. She brings to AVROBIO deep expertise in global program leadership and orphan drug development, extending from the preclinical stage through commercialization. Dr. McNaughton was previously Vice President, R&D Pipeline Program Management at Synageva, and held roles of increasing responsibility at Shire and Praecis Pharmaceuticals. Dr. McNaughton earned a PhD in Chemistry from Princeton University and a BS in Chemistry from Monmouth University.

Dr. Pfeifer is a board-certified toxicologist with substantial industry experience providing technical and strategic leadership in toxicology and drug safety assessment across a broad range of therapeutic areas. His expertise spans small-molecule pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, vaccines, medical devices and gene therapies. Dr. Pfeifer was previously Head of Toxicology at Shire, and held roles of increasing responsibility at Wyeth Research, Ciba-Geigy Corp., and in the contract services industry. Dr. Pfeifer was also an Assistant Professor of Toxicology at Purdue University. Dr. Pfeifer pursued postdoctoral fellowships in Immunotoxicology at the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. He received a BS in Biology from Bucknell University and a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry.

About AVROBIO, Inc.

AVROBIO, Inc., a leader in lentiviral-based gene therapies, is a clinical-stage company developing disruptive therapies that have the potential to transform patients’ lives in a single dose. The Company is focused on the development of its Phase 1 programs in Fabry disease and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), while actively building a pipeline of therapies to treat other rare diseases, and solid and liquid cancers. AVROBIO is headquartered in Cambridge, MA and has offices in Toronto, ON. For additional information, visit www.avrobio.com.