The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine Establishes Patient Advocacy Coordinating Committee to Engage Key Patient-Related Stakeholders

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - Apr 20, 2016) - The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) today announces the formation of its Patient Advocacy Coordinating Committee to ensure alignment, engagement and education of patients and patient advocates relevant to gene therapies, cell therapies and other regenerative medicine products.

The Patient Advocacy Coordinating Committee will coordinate ARM's patient advocacy outreach and education agenda, as well as guide ARM's efforts on the organization's ongoing clinical and patient education roundtable series.

"Accelerating patient access to regenerative therapies is a primary goal of ARM, as well as that of all our member organizations," said Morrie Ruffin, managing director of ARM. "The formation of this committee ensures the meaningful inclusion of education and outreach efforts with the patient community as we advance our programs and policy agenda."

The Patient Advocacy Coordinating Committee co-chairs will be Jennifer Cutie, associate director, patient advocacy, Voyager Therapeutics; Julie Venners Christensen, head of global patient advocacy -- gene therapy, R&D, rare disease unit, GlaxoSmithKline; Barbara Wuebbels, vice president of patient advocacy, Audentes Therapeutics.

This committee represents the seventh standing committee within the ARM organization, joining Capital Formation; Communications & Education; Government Relations; Regulatory; Reimbursement; and Science & Technology. Under ARM's organizational structure, the standing committees convene ARM's members to execute the priorities outlined by the four sections: Cell Therapy; European; Gene and Gene-Modified Cell Therapy; and Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials.

For more about the Patient Advocacy Coordinating Committee, and the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, please visit www.alliancerm.org.

About The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine

The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) is an international multi-stakeholder advocacy organization that promotes legislative, regulatory and reimbursement initiatives necessary to facilitate access to life-giving advances in regenerative medicine worldwide. ARM also works to increase public understanding of the field and its potential to transform human healthcare, providing business development and investor outreach services to support the growth of its member companies and research organizations. Prior to the formation of ARM in 2009, there was no advocacy organization operating in Washington, D.C. to specifically represent the interests of the companies, research institutions, investors and patient groups that comprise the entire regenerative medicine community. Today, ARM has more than 240 members and is the leading global advocacy organization in this field. To learn more about ARM or to become a member, visit http://www.alliancerm.org.

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