The Biotechnology Innovation Organization, or BIO, the leading international trade association for the industry at the intersection of science, medicine, and engineering, has named John F. Crowley as its new president and CEO effective March 4.
Crowley, a native of Englewood, is a biotechnology executive, advocate for rare disease research, and a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer. He currently serves as vice chair of the health section of the board at BIO, where he has been a member for more than 10 years.
According to a December 5 press release, “Crowley is best known for his role as an entrepreneur in the biotechnology industry following the 1998 diagnosis of his two youngest children with Pompe disease, a rare and often fatal neuromuscular disorder.”
Upon receiving the news, Crowley moved the family to Princeton and began working at Bristol Myers Squibb before leaving the biopharmaceutical company to open his own start-up, Novazyme Pharmaceuticals, in search of a cure.
Novazyme was acquired by Genzyme Corporation in 2001, which eventually developed an experimental treatment for Pompe disease via enzyme replacement therapy that Crowley, then serving as its senior vice president, “credits with ultimately saving his children’s lives.”
Crowley and his family would become the subject of Wall Street Journal coverage and a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Geeta Anand, “The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million – And Bucked the Medical Establishment – In a Quest to Save His Children,” which was then adapted into a 2010 feature film, “Extraordinary Measures,” starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser. Crowley also penned a memoir, “Chasing Miracles: The Crowley Family Journey of Strength, Hope, and Joy,” in 2010.
Crowley left to found Orexigen Therapeutics in 2003, then established Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. two years later, the latter described as “a global biotechnology company focusing on developing treatments for rare genetic diseases,” according to his biography on the BIO website.
Amicus received approval from the FDA for its two-component therapy for adults with late-onset Pompe disease, the second treatment developed for the condition, in September 2023.
While Amicus Therapeutics’ Research and Gene Therapy Center of Excellence is based in Philadelphia, its global corporate headquarters is located at 47 Hulfish Street in Princeton. Crowley stepped down from his role as CEO there in 2022 after 17 years in the position and will remain as the company’s executive chairman until his term at BIO officially begins.
This change was influenced in part by his daughter, Megan — who, at 15 months old, was given just six months to live and is now 26 — experiencing a recent health scare, according to the latest Wall Street Journal article by Betsy McKay, “He Designed Drugs to Save His Children. Now He’s Working to Save Biotech, Too.”
Crowley is now set to lead the industry’s largest trade group, as well as utilize its lobbying power, to ensure that BIO facilitates innovation through patient-first practices and equitable access.
“When I founded our first company, the mission was to create a therapy to save our children and others from Pompe disease. Today, there are untold millions of children and adults waiting for ‘their’ cures and treatments — as well as literally billions of people who need agricultural advances and climate solutions that biotechnologies can provide. The mission of BIO is the mission of our members: cure patients, protect our climate, and nourish humanity. I am humbled and honored to lead BIO as we enter this golden age of medicine and the coming age of biotechnology. And I am eager to continue working alongside our members and dedicated BIO leadership and staff to drive this mission forward,” Crowley explains in the BIO press release.
“While my life’s work has centered on creating life-changing and lifesaving medical therapies, I am excited about advancing these critical issues in agriculture and the environment for our society, as well as growing the membership base that drives our mission,” he adds.
Crowley earned his bachelor’s in foreign service from Georgetown University, a juris doctorate from the University of Notre Dame Law School, and a master’s of business administration from Harvard Business School.
He was also formerly on the board of BioNJ, a partner of the national BIO organization located in Hamilton Township. In a statement, current BioNJ president and CEO Debbie Hart embraced Crowley’s new title.
“We are ecstatic that John Crowley, founder and executive chairman of New Jersey’s own Amicus Therapeutics, has been named the new president and CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. John is an extraordinary human being with much to offer and a transcendental story that moves even the most hardened hearts and minds. John will bring his clear vision, passion for innovation and true leadership, as well as the ability to tell the industry’s story in new and compelling ways to this new chapter of his life,” she says in a quote.
“As a past BioNJ Board Member and the 2011 recipient of the Dr. Sol J. Barer Award for Vision, Innovation and Leadership, we are so fortunate at BioNJ to have witnessed firsthand John’s inspirational spirit and remarkable talent. We look forward to supporting and learning from him in his new role. John is the right leader at the right time. We wish John all the very best as he embraces this new challenge the only way he knows how: with drive and conviction, ‘Because Patients Can’t Wait,’” Hart adds, ending with BioNJ’s trademarked “rallying cry.”
Crowley succeeds interim CEO Rachel King, who came out of retirement to serve as president-CEO in October 2022 after molecular immunologist Michelle McMurry-Heath resigned from her leadership position following a period of leave and “disagreements with some board members,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with John for many years as a Board member, and for the past year as part of BIO’s leadership team,” says King. “There couldn’t be a better person to lead our members in 2024 and beyond, and I look forward to continuing to work together to advance this incredibly important industry in its pursuit to change people’s lives for the better.”
More information: www.bio.org.
