BURLINGTON, Mass.– PharmaEssentia USA Corporation, a subsidiary of PharmaEssentia Corporation (TWSE: 6446), a global biopharmaceutical innovator based in Taiwan leveraging deep expertise and proven scientific principles to deliver new biologics in hematology and oncology, today announced the appointment of Robert Geller, M.D. as Head of Medical and Shawn Gibbs, J.D. as Head of Legal.
Dr. Robert Geller is a medical oncologist with diverse expertise across the biotechnology industry and in academia, including in drug development, medical affairs, business development and as a clinical scientist. As the new Head of Medical at PharmaEssentia, Dr. Geller will be responsible for U.S. clinical operations, reporting to Chief Medical Officer, Albert Qin, M.D., Ph.D. Most recently, Dr. Geller was the Chief Medical Officer at Aravive Inc, where he was responsible for the medical oversight of clinical trials related to the development of batiraxcept, including a Phase 3 trial in platinum resistant ovarian cancer, as well as safety and pharmacovigilance. Prior, he served as Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs at Coherus Biosciences, where he was responsible for recruiting and reorganizing a Medical Affairs team to support post marketing of UDENYCA®, and the expansion of the oncology franchise and ophthalmology and immunology pipelines. Dr. Geller has also held medical roles at Heron Therapeutics, Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Vion Pharmaceuticals. His clinical experience includes serving as Medical Director at several community and regional cancer centers across the country, as well as Partner in a specialty oncology/hematology practice. Dr. Geller received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School/Harvard-MIT Health Science Technology and an M.S. in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“I am thrilled to welcome Robert to the PharmaEssentia family to help advance our commitment to provide new therapeutic solutions for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms and other hematological diseases that have limited therapeutic options,” said Dr. Ching-Leou Teng, PharmaEssentia Chairperson. “This is an exciting time in our Company’s growth, as we continue to establish the clinical value of ropeginterferon alfa-2b-njft, marketed as BESREMi®, for myeloproliferative neoplasms and to advance our pipeline; we look forward to Robert’s leadership and partnership with our physician and patient communities.”
Shawn Gibbs, J.D. joins PharmaEssentia with extensive experience across legal affairs in the biopharmaceutical industry, including in corporate transactions, governance, compliance, litigation, regulatory matters, and strategic planning. He was most recently Vice President, Corporate Counsel at Sage Therapeutics, where he led the Commercial Medical Program Legal Team overseeing the launch preparation for ZURZUVAETM and was a member of the Commercial Operations and Medical Affairs Leadership Teams. Prior, he held several legal positions with Sequirus, Inc., including most recently Executive Director, Associate General Counsel, Americas, within Commercial Development and Medical Affairs. Shawn also has held legal positions with Gerber Products Company (NESTLÉ), Optimer Pharmaceuticals and GE Healthcare. He received his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law.
“Shawn’s expertise across legal matters within the life sciences industry will strengthen and protect our corporate footprint and reinforce our focus for patients,” said Dr. Ko-Chung Lin, Founder and CEO of PharmaEssentia. “We are pleased to continue growing the PharmaEssentia organization to support our progressing programs and pipeline.”
