Industry Group BIO Names Crowley President and CEO

Rare Daily Staff

The industry group Biotechnology Innovation Organization has named John Crowley, whose work as a rare disease parent and CEO has inspired a generation of patient advocates, as its incoming president and CEO effective March 4.

He will replace Rachel King, a longtime BIO board member, who has served as BIO’s CEO on an interim basis for the past year.

Crowley is best known for his role as an entrepreneur in the biotechnology industry following the 1998 diagnosis of his two youngest children with Pompe disease, a rare and often fatal neuromuscular disorder. His children’s diagnosis inspired him to co-found a biotech company to develop a treatment that he credits with ultimately saving his children’s lives. The Crowley family journey was depicted in the major motion picture Extraordinary Measures.

In 2005, Crowley co-founded Amicus Therapeutics, a global biotechnology company, where he served as chairman and CEO from 2005-2022. He is currently the company’s executive chairman and will remain in that role until he takes the post at BIO.

“BIO and its members and team will together help to develop policies, empower patient advocacy, and champion groundbreaking new advancements,” Crowley wrote in a post on LinkedIn announcing his appointment. “Nothing in the laws of nature says we cannot cure every disease and overcome every obstacle-only the limits of what we as a society are willing to pursue.”

BIO is the world’s largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers, and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial, and environmental biotechnology products.

“Having worked alongside John for many years, I can attest to his unwavering commitment to patients,” said BIO Board Chair Ted Love. “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.”