ElevateBio Appoints Heidi L. Wagner, J.D., as Global Head of Government Affairs

WALTHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ElevateBio, LLC, a technology-driven company focused on powering transformative cell and gene therapies, today announced that Heidi L. Wagner, J.D., will be joining as Global Head of Government Affairs. Heidi is a highly accomplished industry leader with a strong and proven track record in delivering for patients and families by establishing and executing strategies globally across government affairs, public policy, and patient advocacy. 

“We are delighted to welcome Heidi to the ElevateBio executive team to build and lead our global government affairs function and play a key role in supporting the national and global expansion of our company by extending the ElevateBio growth engine of our technology platforms and biomanufacturing network to catalyze advanced therapeutic development around the world,” said David Hallal, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ElevateBio. “Heidi’s deep expertise will be instrumental in advancing our strategic vision as we accelerate drug development for a growing number of our industry partners across our ecosystem while also selectively developing our own portfolio of genomic medicines.”

“I am very excited to join ElevateBio and to be part of the company’s strong momentum and disruptive approach to advancing cell and gene therapies across the biopharmaceutical industry. With ElevateBio’s driving innovation, next-generation platform technologies, and end-to-end manufacturing capabilities, we will enable industry partners to accelerate the develop of their therapeutics better, faster and more-efficiently,” said Heidi Wagner, J.D., Global Head of Government Affairs, ElevateBio. “I look forward to working closely with domestic and international governments to establish, partnerships, legislation and policies that will support ElevateBio’s mission to accelerate the entire cell and gene therapy industry and create a supportive environment for progressing and accelerating innovation for genomic medicines.”

Heidi currently serves as a director on several boards, including Wave Life Sciences, the University of Colorado Foundation, the American Kidney Fund and No Patient Left Behind.

Prior to joining ElevateBio, Heidi spent decades at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Genentech and Global Blood Therapeutics. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President, Head of Government Affairs & Policy at Global Blood Therapeutics, Inc., where she was responsible for directing the company’s government affairs strategy and implementation in the U.S. and Europe. Heidi also held various leadership positions over a nine-year tenure at Alexion, culminating in Senior Vice President of Global Government Affairs where she led a broad range of activities, including engagement on legislative and regulatory policy issues and advancing global patient access objectives for a portfolio of products (Soliris, Strensiq, and Kanuma). Prior to Alexion, Heidi managed a broad portfolio of U.S. federal legislative and regulatory policy issues for 11-years at Genentech. She started her career in health policy and had managed cross-functional industry coalitions on the HIPAA privacy rule and on antitrust issues. Heidi received a B.S. in journalism and mass communications from the University of Colorado and her J.D. from the George Mason University School of Law.

About ElevateBio
ElevateBio is a technology-driven company built to power the development of transformative cell and gene therapies today and for many decades to come. The company has assembled industry-leading talent, built state-of-the-art facilities, and integrated diverse technology platforms, including gene editing, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and protein, vector, and cellular engineering, necessary to drive innovation and commercialization of cellular and genetic medicines. In addition, ElevateBio BaseCamp is a purpose-built, technology-enabled manufacturing platform offering process innovation, process sciences, and current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) manufacturing capabilities for viral vectors, RNA, and cell therapy production. Through BaseCamp, its expanding footprint, and its next-generation enabling technologies, ElevateBio is rapidly growing its collaborations with industry partners while also selectively developing its own portfolio of cellular and genetic medicines. ElevateBio’s team of scientists, drug developers, and company builders are redefining what it means to be a technology company in the world of drug development, blurring the line between technology and healthcare.

For more information, visit us at www.elevate.bio, or follow Elevate on LinkedIn or Twitter.