Listen to this article

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) announced this week it appointed John Crowley, founder and executive chairman of Cranbury-based Amicus Therapeutics, as its new president and CEO, effective March 4.

BIO is the world’s largest trade association representing biotech companies, academic institutions, state biotech centers, and related organizations nationwide and in more than 30 other countries. The organization has roughly 1,000 members, including those working to deliver new animal health, plant, microbial and bio-based products of biotechnology to support food security and address climate change.

Crowley – a longtime BIO board member – is an industry leader, military veteran and tireless patient advocate.

Following the diagnosis of his two youngest children with Pompe disease, a rare and often fatal neuromuscular disorder, Crowley was inspired to co-found biotech company Novazyme Pharmaceuticals (eventually acquired by Genzyme Corp.) to develop a treatment he credits with ultimately saving his children’s lives. The family’s story was depicted in the 2005 film, “Extraordinary Measures,” which starred Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell.

In 2005, Crowley founded Amicus Therapeutics, a 500-plus person global biotech company, serving as chairman and CEO until 2022. He plans to remain in his current executive chairman role with Amicus until transitioning to the new position at BIO, where he will succeed Rachel King, a longtime BIO board member and industry trailblazer who has served as interim CEO for the past year.

BIO says Crowley’s decades of experience and deep passion for this sector will help the organization reimagine how the world thinks about drug development – bringing a unique perspective and understanding of the challenges patients and their loved one’s face given his own personal situation dealing with his children’s rare disease.

“Having worked alongside John for many years, I can attest to his unwavering commitment to patients. He possesses a lifelong dedication to service, whether fighting for his country, wisely negotiating on behalf of our companies in Congress, or advocating in hospitals on behalf of his children and patients with rare disease,” said BIO board Chair Dr. Ted Love. “After an exhaustive search for the right leader, we were thrilled that John decided to take on this influential role. We can’t thank Rachel King enough for her willingness to come out of retirement to lead BIO during this transition. Her dedication has made it possible for us to find the right leader for the job, and we are delighted she will ensure a smooth transition until John assumes the role in early 2024.”

King says she has had the pleasure to work with Crowley for many years on the BIO board and for the past year as part of the leadership team.

“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,” said King, co-founder and former CEO of Glycomimetics Inc.

Mission oriented

As he approaches this new role, Crowley says he is asking himself the same question he has with any other role he has held in his life – “What is the mission?”

“When I founded our first company, the mission was to create a therapy to save our children and others from Pompe disease,” said Crowley, who currently serves as BIO board vice chair. “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,” Crowley continued. “And I am eager to continue working alongside our members and dedicated BIO leadership and staff to drive this mission forward.”

The announcement of Crowley’s appointment was applauded here in New Jersey.

“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,” said BioNJ President and CEO Debbie Hart in a statement. “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.”

Hart noted that Crowley has been a past BioNJ board member and is the 2011 recipient of the organization’s Dr. Sol J. Barer Award for Vision, Innovation, and Leadership.

“We are so fortunate to have witnessed firsthand John’s inspirational spirit and remarkable talent. We look forward to supporting and learning from him in this new role,” Hart added. “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.”

“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,” Crowley added.