Keynote: “Charting the Future of Biotech”

Jeff founded and built Spark Therapeutics into the world’s first fully integrated, commercial gene therapy company, serving as co-founder and CEO from 2013 to 2022. Under Jeff’s leadership, Spark developed and launched LUXTURNA® for a rare blinding disorder, the first FDA-approved gene therapy for a genetic disease in the United States, spearheading the creation of novel reimbursement models to ensure patient access to genetic medicines. As CEO, Jeff shepherded multiple gene therapies into the clinic for patients with conditions ranging from inherited retinal diseases to rare bleeding and neuromuscular disorders. 

While at Spark, Jeff raised $1 billion and established major partnerships with Pfizer and Novartis. Jeff’s successful orchestration of Spark’s $4.8 billion sale to Roche in 2019 marked a 100-fold increase in the company’s market value over six years and delivered financial returns of $750 million to Spark’s non-traditional founding investor, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). At the time of his departure, Spark had grown to 850 employees and was named #5 in Science magazine’s rankings of top employers across the biopharmaceutical industry.

Jeff currently serves on the boards of Prime Medicine and nChroma Bio as well as on the boards of multiple non-profit organizations, including CHOP. In 2022, Jeff and his wife founded the Marrazzo Family Foundation, which is focused on fostering creativity in Philadelphia’s youth.

Jeff holds two bachelor’s degrees in systems science and engineering and in economics from the University of Pennsylvania as well as two master’s degrees in business and public administration from Wharton and Harvard University, a dual-degree program which he founded.

Jeff Marrazzo
Co-Founder and Former CEO, Spark Therapeutics

Moderated by Steven Nichtberger, MD

Chairman & CEO, Cabaletta Bio; Professor of Practice, Vagelos LSM Program

Dr. Nichtberger has served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman of Cabaletta Bio since its founding in 2017. He is also a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the executive committee of the board of governors of Main Line Health, a not-for-profit regional health system. In 2008, his leadership as founding CEO of Tengion (2004-2011) was recognized nationally with the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® award for emerging companies. Earlier in his career, Dr. Nichtberger served as the head of global marketing for Merck and in various commercial operating roles at the company from 1995 to 2003. He has previously served as a member of the boards of directors of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (as a founding member), Pennsylvania Bio, (including as chairman), and Biotechnology Industry Organization. From 2008-2019 he was a member of the board of overseers for the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Nichtberger received his M.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo, his B.S. from The Wharton School and his B.A. from the College of Arts & Sciences, at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed internship, residency, and fellowship in the Department of Medicine and the Division of Cardiology of the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.