Geron Corporation, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to change lives by changing the course of blood cancer, announced the appointment of Joseph Eid, M.D. as Executive Vice President, Research and Development, effective from, November 11, 2024. In this role, Dr. Eid will lead our Research and Development organization comprised of medical, clinical, and safety/pharmacovigilance teams and be responsible for driving innovative medical and scientific strategies that support RYTELO™ commercially and sustain important research and development opportunities for Geron. Dr. Eid has more than two decades of medical affairs, clinical development, and drug life-cycle management experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, having served in numerous prominent global leadership roles that included building and leading global medical affairs, global clinical development, regulatory, and research and discovery organizations in small and large companies.
“Joe has a deeply impressive track record of more than two decades of global leadership and expertise driving drug development, regulatory, and commercial success for small and large biopharmaceutical companies, including broad experience across hematology and oncology,” said John A. Scarlett, M.D., Geron’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We are thrilled to welcome him to Geron to oversee an integrated, cross-functional R&D organization that is structured to optimize performance and collaboration as a commercial company and to support this exciting era of growth for our company. With the recent addition of Jim Ziegler to lead our commercial organization, Dr. Faye Feller continuing as Chief Medical Officer, and now Joe’s appointment to lead our R&D organization, we feel even more confident in our continued efforts to deliver RYTELO to eligible patients in need, drive innovation, expand Geron’s global footprint in hematologic malignancies and invest in our ability to change patients’ lives by changing the course of blood cancer.”
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Dr. Eid most recently led the medical affairs, research, and clinical development organizations at two clinical-stage biotech companies, Dragonfly Therapeutics, where he served as the President, Research and Development, and Luzsana Bio (a subsidiary of Hengrui Pharmaceuticals), where he previously served as EVP, Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Eid began his industry career in clinical oncology drug development at Roche in 2004, and subsequently joined Merck in similar roles beginning in 2009. At Merck, he led the first-in-human strategy throughout the successful development of the global KEYTRUDA® program, and then was asked to build Merckʻs Oncology Global Medical Affairs organization. After that, he served as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Medical Affairs at Bristol Myers Squibb, where – from 2017 to 2021 – he led a large global medical affairs organization. Dr. Eid’s other prominent leadership roles have featured responsibilities that spanned not only designing and implementing clinical development, medical affairs and life-cycle management plans, but also building entire research and development organizations from the ground up.
Prior to entering the biopharmaceutical industry, Dr. Eid was an Assistant Professor in the hematology department of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey from 1999 to 2004 and stayed on as a volunteer, while continuing to see patients as a hematologist, through 2019. He is a board-certified physician in Medical Oncology, Hematology and Internal Medicine and also serves on several boards, including ALSAC/St Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Angle PLC, a publicly traded liquid biopsy company.
“I am truly excited to join Geron at this important stage, to build on the Company’s tremendous R&D legacy in hematologic malignancies, and to support the commercial growth of RYTELO by working to expand its reach to appropriate patients in need both in the U.S. and globally,” said Dr. Eid. “I am honored to be a part of an organization that is at the forefront of innovation with a first-in-class medicine with significant opportunity for research and development in this space. I look forward to partnering with the team with the common purpose to change patients’ lives.”
Source: Businesswire