Sangamo BioSciences Makes Key Leadership Appointments To Strengthen Clinical And Commercial Capabilities

RICHMOND, Calif., Dec. 1, 2016

"I am delighted to make these two key appointments to Sangamo's senior leadership team, expanding the breadth of talent and experience as the company prepares to initiate additional Phase 1/2 clinical trials and lay the groundwork for commercialization of its pipeline," stated Sandy Macrae, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D., Sangamo's president and chief executive officer. "I am confident that Ed and Curt's leadership and insight will help us realize our vision of building a commercially viable therapeutics company founded on the goal of translating ground-breaking science into genetic therapies that transform patients' lives."

Dr. Conner will oversee all of the Company's clinical development activities and operations and will report directly to Sangamo's chief executive officer. Dr. Conner joins Sangamo from Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel products for the treatment of rare and ultra-rare diseases, where he served as vice president, clinical science.  From 2013 to 2014 he served as BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.'s senior medical director and led protocol development and regulatory interaction for its global phase 3 program in Pompe disease. Prior to BioMarin, he worked for five years at Genentech in various clinical leadership roles. Dr. Conner earned his M.D. from the University of California San Francisco.  He completed residency training in internal medicine at the University of Michigan, and was a fellow in clinical immunology and allergic diseases at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.  He was awarded a B.S Biology, cum laude, from Duke University.

"Ed has valuable experience in drug development for rare diseases, and I am delighted to welcome him to lead Sangamo's growing clinical team," said Dr. Macrae. "He has over ten years of industry experience across a broad range of disease areas and through all stages of drug development including post-marketing clinical supervision.  All of this will be invaluable to Sangamo as we advance near-term programs into the clinic, for hemophilia A and B and lysosomal storage disorders, MPS I and MPS II, and continue to expand and prioritize our therapeutic product pipeline."

Dr. Macrae continued: "We are very grateful to Dale Ando, M.D., who is a recognized expert in cell and gene therapy, and has provided valuable advice and guidance to Sangamo over the past twelve years as its vice president of therapeutic development and CMO. Dale will provide any necessary support as Ed transitions into his new role and will continue to serve in an advisory capacity to the company through early 2017."

"With its zinc finger nuclease technology, Sangamo established the field of genome editing and is the leader in the development of novel human therapeutics based on this exciting new class of medicines," stated Dr. Conner. "I am delighted to join the Company as it evolves into a clinical-stage therapeutic product development organization. I look forward to leading Sangamo's team of talented clinicians and to driving the development of potentially transformative therapies for patients with intractable genetic diseases."

Curt Herberts joined Sangamo in October 2010 and since July 2015 has served as vice president of corporate development. In his new role as senior vice president and CBO, Mr. Herberts will lead Sangamo's business functions and plans for commercialization of its medicines and will report to Sangamo's chief executive officer.