Geron has had an employee at Bayer since 2014

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kmall
Posts: 753
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2019 3:57 pm

Geron has had an employee at Bayer since 2014

Post by kmall » Sat Jul 09, 2022 11:19 pm

Mebratu Gebreyesus - Sr. Development Associate, Geron Corporation - 2010 - present

Associate Development Scientist, Bayer - 2014 - present

Scientist - Celltheon Corporation - 2013 - present


Mebratu's expertise at Bayer includes:

-Drug formulation and freeze drying

-Preparation of a variety of formulation buffers

-Short term and long term evaluation of the stability of biological drugs using different formulation buffers and hoding temperatures (5C, 25C, 40C)

-The application of a variety of assays including SEC-HPLC, Protein estimation,Nephlometer, Osmolality, pH, particulate by vision, Opalesecnece, Coloration

- Drug compatibility of containers, syringes

- Study of drugs biocompatibility, filterability, holdup volume

-Effects of filtration on PROTEINS*

- Ph adjustment studies on PROTEINS*

-Effects of long time drying ( in a freeze-dryer) on PROTEINS*

**note the PROTEINS* above and below....... coincidence?

Dr. Aleksandra Rizo is now President and Head of Research and Development at Vividion, a Bayer Health Care subsidiary.

Vividion main focus:

"About 90% of disease-causing PROTEINS* cannot be targeted by current therapies due to the lack of a known addressable binding site. We are leveraging our chemoproteomic platform technology to address the key limitations of conventional screening techniques in order to discover previously unknown, or cryptic, functional pockets on the surface of PROTEINS* and identify small molecules that selectively bind to those targets.

Through a combination of our team’s chemistry, biology and drug development expertise, we are advancing a deep and diversified pipeline of highly selective small molecule therapeutics targeting high value disease-causing PROTEINS* in oncology and immunology with our lead programs targeting NRF2, STAT3 and WRN."

It would be interesting to know if Mebratu's knowledge of Imetelstat at Geron along with proteins at Bayer, was a catalyst for Dr. Rizo's interest in pursuing her new role at Vividion. Mebratu Gebreyesus has been employed by Geron for 12yrs now while simultaneously working at Bayer for the past 8yrs. Is he the link behind the "departure" of Dr. Rizo and "if any" future involvement between the two biotechs?

I had mentioned Mebratu Gebreyesus's employment at Bayer here on Imetechat about 2yrs ago. Back then it didn't seem to bat much of an eyelash...... perhaps now it's a butterfly effect?

We wait and see. -Kmall

kmall
Posts: 753
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2019 3:57 pm

Re: Geron has had an employee at Bayer since 2014

Post by kmall » Sun Jul 10, 2022 6:53 am

Question for those with knowledge of Imetelstat as a possible "binding agent"?........

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/ph ... imetelstat

2019: Neuroblastoma Pathology and Classification for Precision Prognosis and Therapy Stratification

Hiroyuki Shimada, Naohiko Ikegaki, in Neuroblastoma, 2019 - "Imetelstat (GRN163L; JNJ-63,935,937) (http://www.geron.com/r-d/imetelstat/) is a potent and specific inhibitor of telomerase by binding with high affinity to TERC (telomerase RNA component)."

Would/could Imetelstat be a "small molecule that selectively bind(s) to those targets" (on the surface of proteins) - which Vividion seeks to identify?

Also......

2019: Telomeres, Telomerase, and Cancer
Kazunori Tomita, Laura C. Collopy, in Encyclopedia of Cancer (Third Edition), 2019

"Imetelstat, formally named GRN163L, is an oligonucleotide-based compound that is complementary to the template sequence within TERC (Fig. 12B). It binds with a high affinity, blocking the interaction between TERC and the 3′ telomere overhang, thereby preventing template annealing and polymerization activity. To conquer issues relating to nucleotide stability, aqueous solubility and cellular uptake, this template antisense oligonucleotide is fused to a palmitoyl lipid moiety. To date, Imetelstat is the best evaluated telomerase inhibitor. It has demonstrated high specificity against many telomerase-positive cancer types, including glioblastoma, esophageal, lung and pancreas cancers in in vitro and pre-clinical models. Imetelstat has proven effective when used with other anticancer drugs (combination chemotherapy) or radiotherapy (radiosensitization).

HSP90 is an essential chaperon for telomerase assembly and stability. HSP90 is often upregulated in cancer and contributes to the stabilization of client (substrate) proteins, including oncogenic proteins, to promote tumor development and heterogeneity. HSP90 inhibitors geldanamycine analogues, tanespimycin (17-AAG) and the more advanced alvespimycin (17-DAMG) reduce telomerase activity and block oncogenic signaling pathways (Fig. 11C). Telomere shortening can be synergized with Imetelstat."

Is the binding agent/Imetelstat/protein a possible link between Dr. Rizo's departure as CMO of Geron to President and Head of Research and Development at Vividion?

Or is telomerase/Imetelstat an "addressable binding site" for Vividion's future platforms?

Again, most of this is out of my wheelhouse, so I would like to defer to any of the boards scientific/medical experts on their opinions of/if any correlations here. -Kmall

biopearl123
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Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2018 5:13 pm

Re: Geron has had an employee at Bayer since 2014

Post by biopearl123 » Sun Jul 10, 2022 8:22 pm

Kmall, I started to take a shot at your question and quickly realized I would be punching way above my weight class. We need a knowledgeable molecular scientist to chime in. If you are out there please do. bp.

biopearl123
Posts: 1665
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2018 5:13 pm

Re: Geron has had an employee at Bayer since 2014

Post by biopearl123 » Sun Jul 10, 2022 8:33 pm

And if you (the knowledgeable molecular scientist/geneticist/biochemist/molecular pharmacologist) are out there and willing to contribute, registration is a little tedious but I am here to help. Just post on the YMB, let me know who you are and what screen name you are trying to register under. I will try to find your registration request (not always easy because of the deluge of bots that also try to register) and I will approve your request. Any help you can give us in deepening our understanding of this remarkable drug and its future would be greatly appreciated. bp

kmall
Posts: 753
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2019 3:57 pm

Re: Geron has had an employee at Bayer since 2014

Post by kmall » Tue Jul 12, 2022 5:53 am

bp - appreciate you taking a stab at answering my question. Just trying to conjure up a question concerning a possible - Imetelstat/Protein/binding agent - link was a bit of a challenge.

Hopefully someone here can provide insight, if there is any. Looking for the connection between the two companies/drugs/platforms and that stood out from what I could see. Either way, Imetelstat will stand on its own merit, but the possibility of it being used as an interacting binder with other platforms, ratchets things up a notch.......I think?

Something I do know.............

Yet another Geron employee has moved on.

Dan Miller - Director Data Management at Geron Corporation (Aug 2019 - May 2022) is now: Sr. Director, Clinical Data Management at Palleon Pharmaceuticals - June 2022

Dan Miller's employment history is staying with most companies less than 2yrs, so being at Geron for 2yrs and 10months looks to be one of his longest stints.

There seems to be quite a revolving door at the moment........almost like every other Corporation. I'll post an updated list for any of those interested. -Kmall

kmall
Posts: 753
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2019 3:57 pm

Re: Geron has had an employee at Bayer since 2014

Post by kmall » Tue Jul 12, 2022 6:18 am

Known current Geron Employees as of 7/11/2022 and their initial hiring dates –
* Former Janssen employee
+ Part-time or Consultant

Management:
1 - CEO – Dr. John A. Scarlett, MD - 2011
2 - CFO – Olivia K. Bloom - 1994
3 - CAO – Melissa A. Kelly Behrs – 1998
4. – CBO – Edward Koval - 2021
5 - COO – Andrew J. Grethlein - 2012
6 - CCO* – Anil Kapur - 2019
7 - CMO* – Faye Feller, MD - 2019
8 - CLO – Stephen N. Rosenfield - 2011

Clinical – Operations, Science, Development:
Faye Feller*(7), MD – CMO – 2019
9 - Laurie Sherman* – VP Clinical Operations – 2019
10 - Souria Dougherty* - Ex Director Clinical Science - 2019
11 - Tymara Berry – Ex Director Clinical Development - 2020
12 - Sheetal Shah – Sr Director – 2020
13 - Denise Redding – Director - 2021
14 - Jeff Ryel – Director Clinical Operations - 2020
15 - Karie Arnold – Director Clinical Operations – 2021
16 - Brandie Jonas – Director Program Management – 2019
17 - F Matthew Bakthasekaran - Sr Manger, Clinical Program Management - 2022
18 - Kate Turner - Associate Director Clinical Operations - 2022
19 – Carolina Jacobs – Sr Project Manager - 2012
20 - Daria Zielinska – Sr Scientist – 2001
21 - Ron Pruzan – Principal Scientist – 2010
22 – Yelena Polonskaya – Sr Research Associate - 2001
23 - Barbara Mandelkow (Germany) Lab Assistant - 2017
24 - Dr. Aleksandra Rizo*(+) - Sr. Medical and Regulatory Advisor - 2019
25 - Mebratu Gebreyesus(+) - Sr Development Associate - 2010
(currently employed at Bayer, Celltheon and Geron)
26 - Kerry Mundt(+) – CT Assistant – 2010
(currently employed by Pharmacyclics/Abbvie and Geron)

Pharmacovigilance and Drug Safety/Information:
27 - Patti N. – Ex Director Drug Safety – 2020
28 – Annat Ikin - Director Medical Writing – Nov 2021

Business Development:
Melissa A. Kelly Behrs (3) – Chief Alliance Officer – 2014
Edward Koval (4) – CBO - 2021
Anil Kapur* (6) - COO - 2019
29 - Denise Meyer – VP Medical Affairs – 2021
30 - Helen Lee – Sr. Reporting Analyst - 2012
31 - Anthony Kuczynski – Analyst - 2019
32 - Aron Feingold - VP Investor Relations & Corporate Communication - 2022

Finance:
Olivia K. Bloom (2) – CFO – 1994
33 - Karen Boyce – VP -2008
34 - Andrew Good – Ex Director – 2006
35 - Gilian Fong – Director – 2021
36 – Iasko Cable – Sr. Clinical Trial Accountant – 2019
37 – Dave Clark – CPA, Corporate Controller - 2022
38 - Katherine Harmon, CPA, Assistant Controller - 2022

Data Management:
39 - Ben Thorp - Head of Clinical Data Management - 2022
40 - Rana F.* – Director, Statistical Programming - 2020
41 - Sridevi Sridhar, CCDM – Associate Director – 2021

Manufacturing:
42 - Patrick Murphy – VP Manufacturing – 2019
43 - Eric Mueller – Director – 2019
44 - Leslie C. – CMC Director - 2021
45 - Bharat Baral* – CMC Manager – 2021 & 2011
46 - William Garzon-Rodriguez* - Associate Director Drug Product Manufacturing – 2021
47 - Tim Tickner – Director, Supply Chain Management – 2022

Regulatory:
48 - Sharon McBain* - VP Global - 2019
49 - Shirin Mirshamsi* – Director EU – 2019
50 - Ilesh Sanathra* - Director Global – 2020
51 - Nick Lyon – Director – 2020
52 – Ronan Balicanta* Senior Manager, Submissions - 2022
53 - Tarin Araujo - Senior Manager US - 2022

Biostatistics:
54 - Ying Wan* – VP - 2019
55 - Libo Sun* – Director - 2019

Quality Assurance and Quality Control:
56 - Denise Grippo – VP Quality and Compliance – 2019
57 - Samantha Taylor – QA Manager, Document Control – 2007
58 - Joe Denton – Director – 2019
59 - Damanjit Singh – Sr Manager – 2018
60 - Willie Mobley – Materials/Document Specialist - 2007
61 - Leah Wood – Manager – 2021
62 - Murugappa Vedachalam (+) – QA/QC/CMC Consultant - 2019

Legal and Intellectual Property:
Stephen L. Rosenfield (8) – CLO – 2011
63 - Pamela Smith – Associate General Counsel - 1999
64 - Christopher Johnson – Director - 2019
65 - Laura Reederson – Director - 2020
66 - Leslie Mooi – VP IP – 2007
67 - Abby B. – Sr Patent Paralegal - 2014
68 - Cheryl Northern – Sr. Contracts Manager – 2007
69 – Brittney Hernandez – Contracts Manager – 2021

Facilities Operations and Information Technology:
70 - Michael Yamada – VP -2007
71 - Jyoti Shetty – Sr Director IT – 2021
72 - John Albert - Director Information Technology Infrastructure - 2022
73 - Miguel Hundelt – Systems Administrator – 2018
74 – Julian Cornejo - Systems Administrator - 2021
75 - Briana Martinez – Ex Assistant - 2006
76 - Julia Mensing – Ex Assistant – 2011
77 - Stacie W. – Ex Assistant - 2020
78 - Mia Pham – Office Manager - 2020

Human Resources:
79 - Shannon Odam – HR Executive -2019
80 - Stephanie Dellari – Director - 2004
81 - Susan Finan – Employee Benefits – 2021
82 - Marisa Cerniglia - Manager, People Operations – 2021
83 – Jennifer Allen - Associate Director, Talent Acquisition – 2022
84 – Fiona McAuliffe – Talent Acquisition Associate - 2022

**This latest "known" Geron employee roster reflects the most recent departure of:

Dan Miller - Director, Data Management - Aug 2019 - May 2022

The appointment of Dr. Faye Feller as Executive Vice President and CMO - 2019 (7)

The transition of Dr. Aleksandra Rizo from Executive Vice President and CMO to Sr. Medical and Regulatory Advisor - 2019 (24)

The addition of Ben Thorp - Head of Clinical Data Management - June 2022 (39)

cheng_ho
Posts: 202
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2016 11:27 pm

Re: Geron has had an employee at Bayer since 2014

Post by cheng_ho » Tue Jul 12, 2022 9:07 pm

Thanks for the employee list, kmall.

Imetelstat is RNA, it binds to the hTR RNA, not to proteins.

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