Sangamo Announces Strategic Investment in Manufacturing and Appointment of Andy Ramelmeier as Head of Technical Operations

RICHMOND, Calif., Nov. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sangamo Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SGMO) today announced a strategic investment in manufacturing, including an expanded commitment with Brammer Bio, plans to build a proprietary cGMP manufacturing facility in the new Sangamo corporate headquarters in Brisbane, California, as well as the appointment of Andy Ramelmeier, PhD, as Senior Vice President, Head of Technical Operations and Manufacturing.

Strategic investment in manufacturing capacity and capabilities

Sangamo’s strategic investment in large scale manufacturing capacity and capabilities represents a balanced approach to meet the needs of its rapidly expanding pipeline of genomic therapy product candidates. The expanded services agreement with Brammer Bio will provide Sangamo dedicated capacity for clinical supply of the Company’s lead development programs and builds on a strong, decade-long relationship between the two companies.

Sangamo is also planning to build a state-of-the-art cGMP manufacturing facility that will initially be focused on product development and Phase 1/2 clinical trial supply for new pipeline programs. This facility will be located on-site at Sangamo’s planned new headquarters.

“Our expanded commitment with Brammer Bio, along with our plan to build our in-house GMP manufacturing facility, lays the foundation for the future strategy of Sangamo - to take greater ownership of product development and to forward-integrate, on our own and with partners, to capture the value of our genome editing and gene therapy pipeline,” said Curt Herberts, chief business officer of Sangamo.

“Brammer Bio is pleased to expand our strong relationship with Sangamo by providing development and manufacturing support through our deep clinical and commercial manufacturing expertise,” said Mark Bamforth, president and CEO of Brammer Bio.

Appointment of Dr. R. Andrew Ramelmeier as Head of Technical Operations and Manufacturing

“We are thrilled to have Andy join Sangamo,” said Sandy Macrae, CEO of Sangamo. “Andy’s leadership and experience in manufacturing, systems scale up, and process validation from the bench through commercialization will help us develop the capabilities and resources we need to control the quality, timelines and costs of our manufacturing and product development.”

Dr. Ramelmeier has more than 25 years of leadership experience in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, process development and technical operations at Merck, Johnson & Johnson, BioMarin and, most recently, Portola Pharmaceuticals. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Ramelmeier will join Sangamo full time effective January 1, 2018.

About Brammer Bio: Brammer Bio is a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) providing clinical and commercial supply of vectors for in vivo gene therapy and ex vivo modified-cell based therapy, process and analytical development, and regulatory support, enabling large pharma and biotech clients to accelerate the delivery of novel medicines to improve patient health. Brammer Bio is owned by Ampersand Capital Partners, the only institutional investor in the company, and its founders. For more information, please visit www.brammerbio.com. For inquiries or more information on working with Brammer Bio, please contact info@brammerbio.com or 1.866.GENE.CMO (436.3266), or visit www.brammerbio.com.

About Sangamo Therapeutics

Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. is focused on translating ground-breaking science into genomic therapies that transform patients’ lives using the company’s industry leading platform technologies in genome editing, gene therapy, gene regulation and cell therapy. For more information about Sangamo, visit www.sangamo.com.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Sangamo’s current expectations. These forward looking statements include, without limitation, references to the expected benefits of the expanded relationship with Brammer Bio, the plans and timing of Sangamo’s build out of in-house manufacturing capabilities, the plans for Sangamo’s new headquarters and the expected benefits from the hiring of Dr. Ramelmeier. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, the ability for Sangamo to successfully collaborate with Brammer Bio, the dependence on Brammer Bio for manufacturing support, [and] delays in or the inability to complete the build out of the new headquarters or in-house manufacturing capabilities. In addition, Sangamo is subject to risks and uncertainties that exist in Sangamo’s operations and business environments. These risks and uncertainties are described more fully in Sangamo’s Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and Sangamo undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.

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SOURCE Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc.