Occam Places John McDonald on Board of Geron

Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and potential commercialization of a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, imetelstat, in hematologic malignancies, has appointed John F. McDonald as an independent member of its Board of Directors.

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John currently serves as Corporate Vice President, Global R&D Business Development, for Novo Nordisk A/S, where he not only leads R&D business development activities and investment strategies, but also participates in the creation of research, early development, and therapeutic pipeline diversification and augmentation strategies. From 2011 to 2018, John was Vice President, Business Development, at Biogen Inc., where he led business development and negotiated numerous strategic alliances, licenses and acquisitions.

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Previously, John served as Managing Director at MPM Capital LP, where he served as the primary business development and asset strategy resource for multiple portfolio companies. His earlier career includes roles across business development, corporate strategy, and legal at various biopharmaceutical companies, including Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (now a Takeda Oncology Company), Genzyme Corp (now part of Sanofi), and Genentech, Inc. (now a member of the Roche Group).

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John holds a J.D. from University of California Hastings College of the Law and an M.B.A. and B.S. from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.

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Geron is a longstanding client for whom Occam had previously placed two independent Board members, Dawn Bir and Liz O'Farrell, and more recently, Chief Business Officer Edward Koval and VP Investor Relations & Corporate Communications Aron Feingold.