Michelle Robertson Succeeds Current CFO of Geron Olivia Bloom

Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN) has announced the appointment of Michelle Robertson as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Treasurer, effective from September 25, 2023. Ms. Robertson’s appointment follows the retirement of Olivia Bloom, Geron’s outgoing CFO, effective September 25, 2023. Ms. Bloom has had an illustrious career spanning nearly 30 years within Geron’s finance team, including her twelve-year tenure as CFO.

John A. Scarlett, M.D., Chairman and CEO of Geron, expressed his gratitude and admiration for Olivia Bloom’s remarkable contributions during her tenure at the company. He acknowledged her strategic vision, financial expertise, and unwavering dedication, which have played a foundational role in Geron’s evolution from a discovery-focused organization to its current position.

Dr. Scarlett also welcomed Michelle Robertson to the Geron executive team, highlighting her extensive financial operations experience, her background in managing the financial aspects of a biotechnology company gearing up for its first commercial product launch, her interactions with investors, analysts, and investment bankers, and her prior involvement in commercial launches.

Ms. Bloom expressed her confidence in Michelle Robertson and the entire Geron team as they embark on a new era that may include commercialization. She will serve as a consultant to the company through March 1, 2024, to ensure a smooth transition.

Michelle Robertson brings over 30 years of financial and commercial operations experience to Geron. Before joining Geron, she served as the CFO and Treasurer of Editas Medicine, a CRISPR genome editing company, where she successfully raised $500 million in capital over three years to support late-stage clinical development. Prior to that, she held the position of CFO at Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2018 to 2020, leading the finance team through a strategic restructuring before its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson. Ms. Robertson has held various finance roles of increasing responsibility, including Vice President of oncology Finance for Baxalta Inc. after its spin-off from Baxter International Inc., where she contributed to the acquisition and commercialization of their first oncology drug, Oncaspar®. She has also served as Head of Financial Planning and Analysis and Operations Excellence at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc., preparing the finance organization for the commercial launch of Linzess®. Her prior experience includes 16 years at Genzyme Corporation (acquired by Sanofi), where she played a pivotal role in integrating several acquired oncology assets and building the Commercial operations team to support five global commercial products. Ms. Robertson holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Cand.Oecon degree from the University of Oslo in Norway. She currently serves as a board member and chair of the audit committee for Verastem Inc.

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