CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Scholar Rock (NASDAQ: SRRK), a Phase 3 clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of serious diseases in which protein growth factors play a fundamental role, today announced the appointment of Tracey M. Sacco as Chief Commercial Officer. Ms. Sacco brings extensive biopharmaceutical industry experience, including product launch and global commercial strategy. At Scholar Rock, she will build and lead all commercial functions, including sales, marketing, market access, and commercial operations. Her first priority will be preparing the company for the potential commercial launch of apitegromab, the company’s Phase 3 investigational candidate for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).
“Our ongoing Phase 3 SAPPHIRE trial is our top priority, and we are committed to the patients who we believe may benefit from apitegromab. To this end, we are thrilled to welcome Tracey to Scholar Rock’s executive team and leverage her depth of commercial experience as the company’s Chief Commercial Officer,” said Dr. Jay Backstrom, M.D., M.P.H., President & Chief Executive Officer of Scholar Rock. “Tracey is an exceptional leader with a proven track record of building commercial organizations and launching new products in the rare disease area. She brings capabilities and deep expertise that will complement our current activities and help us maximize the significant opportunity before us.”
“Scholar Rock has developed a differentiated and a validated scientific approach to addressing devastating illnesses and has the potential to bring truly practice-changing medicines to patients. I’m thrilled to be joining the Scholar Rock team at a time with so much positive momentum and look forward to contributing to the success of the apitegromab program by preparing for the company’s first commercial launch,” said Ms. Sacco.
Ms. Sacco joins Scholar Rock with nearly two decades in the biopharmaceutical industry. Much of her career has focused on rare disease, where she has worked on programs from early-stage development through launch. Most recently, Ms. Sacco worked at The Nemetz Group, where she served as a strategic partner to biopharmaceutical companies on commercialization and corporate strategy. Previously, she held positions of increasing responsibility at Acceleron Pharma, most recently serving as Senior Vice President, Global Strategic Marketing. She was a key architect of the U.S. launch of REBLOZYL® for myelodysplastic syndromes and beta-thalassemia. Prior to Acceleron, Ms. Sacco held roles in commercial strategy and business development at Sanofi (formerly Genzyme), Oscient Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer.
Ms. Sacco holds an M.B.A. from NYU Stern School of Business and a B.A. in Economics and Sociology from Boston College. She is a member of the Life Science Cares Board of Advisors.
About Scholar Rock
Scholar Rock is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines for the treatment of serious diseases in which signaling by protein growth factors plays a fundamental role. Scholar Rock is creating a pipeline of novel product candidates with the potential to transform the lives of patients suffering from a wide range of serious diseases, including neuromuscular disorders, cancer, and fibrosis. Scholar Rock’s approach to targeting the molecular mechanisms of growth factor activation enabled it to develop a proprietary platform for the discovery and development of monoclonal antibodies that locally and selectively target these signaling proteins at the cellular level. By developing product candidates that act in the disease microenvironment, the Company intends to avoid the historical challenges associated with inhibiting growth factors for therapeutic effect. Scholar Rock believes its focus on biologically validated growth factors may facilitate a more efficient development path. For more information, please visit www.ScholarRock.com or follow Scholar Rock on Twitter (@ScholarRock) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/scholar-rock/).
