Voyager Therapeutics Appoints Jane Pritchett Hende

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 03, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VYGR ), a clinical-stage gene therapy company developing life-changing treatments for severe diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), today announced the appointment of Jane Pritchett Henderson as senior vice president and chief financial officer effective January 1, 2017.  Ms. Henderson brings more than 28 years of life sciences industry and banking experience and leadership to her new role.

“I am very pleased to welcome Jane to the Voyager team,” said Steven Paul, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Voyager Therapeutics.  “Jane’s unique combination of extensive investment banking experience combined with her extensive corporate biopharmaceutical management and board experience at several very innovative biopharmaceutical and life science companies make her an ideal fit for the CFO role here at Voyager.”

Ms. Henderson most recently served as chief financial and business officer of Kolltan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., having joined the privately-held biopharmaceutical company in 2013 and leading the sale of Kolltan to Celldex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in late 2016.  Previously, Ms. Henderson served as vice president, business development of ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc., from June 2010 to June 2012, when ISTA Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Bausch + Lomb.  Prior to ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Ms. Henderson also served as the chief financial officer and head of business development at Axerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and as chief financial officer and chief business officer of Panacos Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  In addition to her industry experience, Ms. Henderson’s extensive healthcare investment banking experience includes the execution of over 95 mergers and acquisitions, advisory and financing deals as managing director and other senior roles at HSBC Holdings plc, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Lehman Brothers and Salomon Brothers.  Ms. Henderson currently serves on the Board of Directors of Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc.  Ms. Henderson received a B.S. in Psychology from Duke University.

“Voyager has an excellent scientific foundation, world class researchers and clinicians, a stellar leadership team and Board.  This strong foundation combined with the company’s recent positive interim Phase 1b data from its lead program VY-AADC01 for advanced Parkinson’s disease and the opportunity to join a company that has the potential to alter the course of treating devastating CNS diseases is highly attractive,” said Ms. Henderson.  “I am thrilled to join the Voyager team and meaningfully contribute to the growth of the company by helping to bring the company’s deep and rapidly progressing pipeline of innovative gene therapy programs to patients.”

About Voyager Therapeutics

Voyager Therapeutics is a clinical-stage gene therapy company developing life-changing treatments for severe diseases of the CNS.  Voyager is committed to advancing the field of adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy through innovation and investment in vector engineering and optimization, manufacturing and dosing and delivery techniques.  The Company’s pipeline focuses on severe CNS diseases in need of effective new therapies, including advanced Parkinson’s disease, a monogenic form of ALS, Friedreich’s ataxia, Huntington’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and severe, chronic pain.  Voyager has broad strategic collaborations with Sanofi Genzyme, the specialty care global business unit of Sanofi, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School.  Founded by scientific and clinical leaders in the fields of AAV gene therapy, expressed RNA interference and neuroscience, Voyager Therapeutics is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  For more information, please visit www.voyagertherapeutics.com .  Follow Voyager on LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities law. The use of words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “future,” “potential,” or “continue,” and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  For example, all statements Voyager makes regarding the initiation, timing, progress and reporting of results of its preclinical programs and clinical trials and its research and development programs, its ability to advance its AAV-based gene therapies into, and successfully complete, clinical trials, its ability to continue to develop its product engine, its ability to add new programs to its pipeline, its expected cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at the end of a fiscal year and anticipation for how long expected cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will last, and the timing or likelihood of its regulatory filings and approvals, are forward looking.  All forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions by Voyager’s management that, although Voyager believes to be reasonable, are inherently uncertain.  All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that Voyager expected.  These statements are also subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties that are described in Voyager’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as updated by its future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was made.  Voyager undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.