Gene therapy player Spark eyes a groundbreaking approval by 2017

Spark Therapeutics ($ONCE), at work on gene therapies for rare diseases, laid out an ambitious three-year plan that would see its top candidate win FDA approval and 9 others enter clinical trials. At the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, Spark CEO Jeffrey Marrazzo said the company is on track to launch its first product, a Phase III treatment for blindness-causing disorder, next year. Behind that, the Philadelphia-headquartered company is planning to get a pair of gene therapies into late-stage trials by 2018 and at least 7 more into proof-of-concept studies on the same timeline. More