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Novartis Swaps Two AveXis Executives For One Following Zolgensma Data Manipulation

 
• By Mandy Jackson

The big pharma could not confirm whether AveXis co-founder and CSO Brian Kaspar and his brother, SVP of R&D Allan Kaspar, were fired. Instead, Novartis noted that the withholding of preclinical safety data for Zolgensma was limited to the action of a few employees. NIBR preclinical safety chief takes key role at AveXis

Man walking through a break in a jig-saw puzzle wall - 3D illustration
Page Bouchard, a preclinical safety executive, will move from Novartis to AveXis • Source: Shutterstock

Novartis AG said when it disclosed that preclinical safety data for Zolgensma were manipulated in the biologic license application for the gene therapy that the company would be "exiting" employees involved in the ethical breach. And on 14 August, the subsidiary responsible for the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) treatment's development announced that two executives – including a co-founder of AveXis Inc. – have been replaced.

Notably, AveXis co-founder and chief scientific officer Brian Kaspar and his brother, senior vice president of research and development Allan Kaspar, have been replaced by a single long-time Novartis executive with expertise in the area where the Zolgensma BLA was manipulated

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