Geron Appoints Thomas Hofstaetter to Board of Directors and Announces Retirement of Patrick Zenner
MENLO PARK, Calif., March 26, 2010 - Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN) today announced the appointment of Thomas Hofstaetter, Ph.D. to its board of directors and as a member of the board's compensation committee. The company also announced that Patrick J. Zenner, who has served as a director of the company since July 2001, will retire from the board, effective as of the annual meeting of stockholders on May 19, 2010.
"We thank Pat for his nine years of service to Geron as a member of the board," said Alexander E. Barkas, Ph.D., chairman of Geron's board of directors. "Pat's 40 years of pharmaceutical/biotechnology experience offered valuable industry perspective to our board and company. We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Hofstaetter to our board. Thomas brings more than 30 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry from a broad range of senior executive positions spanning R&D, strategy and corporate development."
Dr. Hofstaetter is currently president, chief executive officer and a director of VaxInnate Corporation. From 2004 until 2009, he was senior vice president of corporate business development for Wyeth, Inc. and head of global business development for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. From 1999 until 2004, he was senior vice president of corporate development at Aventis, Inc. Prior to the merger that created Aventis, Dr. Hofstaetter was senior vice president of business development and strategic planning for Hoechst Marion Roussel from 1995 until 1999 and was executive managing director of the Pharmaceuticals Unit of Hoechst Japan Ltd. from 1991 to 1994. Dr. Hofstaetter began his pharmaceutical industry career in 1978 at Behringwerke AG in Germany, where he joined as a research scientist and rose to become head of research in 1988 and head of the Immunology and Oncology business unit in 1989. Dr. Hofstaetter received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, magna cum laude, and a Master of Science degree in Biochemistry, both from the University of Tuebingen in Germany.
About Geron
Geron is developing first-in-class biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer and chronic degenerative diseases, including spinal cord injury, heart failure and diabetes. The company is advancing an anti-cancer drug and a cancer vaccine that target the enzyme telomerase through multiple clinical trials in different cancers. For more information about Geron, visit www.geron.com.
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