Cell and Gene Therapy Commercialization: Lessons Learned from a CEO

About this Seminar

Sue Washer is the former president and CEO of Applied Genetics Technologies Corp. (AGTC). During her more than 20 years there, she was prominently involved in the University of Florida and state of Florida start-up ecosystem. AGTC was a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing Adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapies for rare, inherited retinal diseases. It was sold in 2022 to Syncona, which ultimately launched Beacon Therapeutics with the AGTC gene therapy assets. She brings a decade of experience in pharmaceutical management and research with Abbott Labs and Eli Lilly & Co., with an additional nine years of senior management experience with entrepreneurial firms. At AGTC, she secured private and public investments of more than $290 million, negotiated and closed two major collaborations with top biotech companies resulting in more than $150 million of cash in-flows, and led AGTC in efficiently completing critical scientific milestones. She is an appointed member of the Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee for the SEC, past associate vice president of the ECSGB Board of Bio, and currently serves as a director of BioFlorida. She earned her undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Michigan State University and her MBA from the University of Florida, where she was one of the first graduates from the Warrington College of Business Entrepreneurship program.

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