CEVEC Pharmaceuticals GmbH (CEVEC), the expert in the production of tailor-made recombinant glycoproteins and gene therapy vectors today announced the appointment of J. Fraser Wright, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer, Gene Therapies at Axovant and Scientific Co-Founder and former CTO at Spark Therapeutics as new member of its CAP-GT Scientific Advisory Board.
Dr. Wright will join Dr. Otto Merten, expert in viral vector production from Généthon, and Prof. Dr. Stefan Kochanek, gene therapy specialist from the University of Ulm at the CAP-GT Scientific Advisory Board. The Board was implemented by CEVEC to enlarge the knowledgebase and network and support the Company in its mission to become the leading provider of high performance cell technology in viral gene therapy vector development and production.
“We are very happy to welcome Fraser, a widely recognized expert in the fields of gene therapy and adeno-associated viral vectors to our Scientific Advisory Board,” said Dr. Nicole Faust, CEO and CSO of CEVEC. “His profound knowledge and expertise in designing, manufacturing and characterizing certified recombinant AAV and lentiviral vectors will help to reach the next level of establishing CAP-GT as the industry standard for scalable production of viral gene therapy vectors.”
“I am very much looking forward to contributing to the future success of CEVEC and helping to accelerate the Company’s growth”, said Dr. Wright. “I am very impressed by the unique features of CEVEC’s CAP-GT technology for viral vector manufacturing with superior product quality attributes and the progress the company made in establishing a stable, helper-free AAV production platform. With a pressing demand from the industry for scalable viral vector production and the resulting key opportunities ahead of CEVEC, this is certainly a very exciting time to join the CEVEC Scientific Advisory Board.”
Dr. J. Fraser Wright has been engaged for more than 20 years in the development of viral vector-based new biological products in both industry and academic settings. Dr. Wright just recently took over the role as new Chief Technology Officer at Axovant Sciences, Inc. He is Co-Founder and former Chief Technology Officer of Spark Therapeutics, Inc. He also previously served as Director of Development and Clinical Manufacturing at Avigen, Inc., as the founding Director of the gene therapy Clinical Vector Core Laboratory at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, a world-class manufacturing facility that has designed, manufactured, characterized and certified recombinant AAVs and lentiviruses (rLenti) for numerous human gene therapy trials, and as research Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perleman School of Medicine. During his career, Dr. Wright has led efforts in basic research, process and analytical methods development and GMP manufacturing and quality systems supporting translational research. More than 12,000 citations of his publications in highly recommended scientific peer-reviewed papers characterize him as a widely recognized expert in the field of viral vector-based clinical gene therapy. He has also overseen investigational product chemistry, manufacturing and quality control for gene therapy vectors administered to more than 150 human subjects in 12 clinical studies. Dr. Wright is trained in biochemistry, immunology and virology and received his B.S. and Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Toronto.
