Philip Astley-Sparke to speak at GTC Orphan Drugs Conference May 8-10, Boston MA

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Philip Astley-Sparke, Newly Appointed President U.S. of uniQure to Give Featured Presentation on Marketability of Gene Therapy at the Inaugural Orphan Drugs Research and Commercialization Conference (May 8-10, 2013 in Boston, MA)

Boston, MA, United States., February 17, 2013 - (PressReleasePoint) - Philip Astley-Sparke, who was recently appointed President U.S. of uniQure B.V. will present on the marketability of gene therapy at GTC’s Inaugural Orphan Drugs Research and Commercialization Conference, May 8-10, 2013 in Boston, MA.
 
uniQure’s Glybera, a gene therapy for the treatment of lipoprotein lipase deficiency, became the first approved gene therapy in the Western world when it was approved by the European Union in November 2012. Glybera, which uniQure invested $60.8 million in, is expected to cost approximately $1.6 million per patient. As uniQure works to establish itself in the U.S. and develop its commercial presence, the question remains as to how marketable such an expensive treatment is for rare disease patients. Is it worth the millions spent to develop the treatment? Will gene therapy pay off for its investors?
 
In addition to his new role as President U.S. of uniQure, Philip has been a venture partner at Forbion Capital Partners since May 2012, where he works with selected portfolio companies’ management teams execute their business plans. Forbion is uniQure’s largest investor. Philip also currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oxyrane.
 
Prior to joining Forbion, he was President and CEO of BioVex, Inc., which focused on developing first-in-class oncolytic vaccines. Philip served as a Vice President and General at Amgen until December 2011, following Amgen’s acquisition of BioVex’s in March 2011. While at BioVex, he established the company’s operations in the U.S., recruited its U.S. management team and setting up all key functions, including commericial capabilities.
 
Now as uniQure’s President U.S., he will devote his time to helping the company build its clinical, regulatory and commercial infrastructure in the United States.
 
The Orphan Drugs Research and Commercialization Conference brings together leaders in industry, academia, government, and patient groups to discuss strategies to improve orphan drug research, pricing, access, and other key topics. 


To view the agenda, click here.
To view the speaker list, click here.
 
This conference is part of the Drug Discovery Summit 2013, and will run parallel with three other exciting conferences:

3rd Epigenetics in Drug Discovery
6th Imaging in Drug Discovery and Development
7th Drug Design and Medicinal Chemistry
 
For more information, please visit www.gtcbio.com.