served on the board of directors of Geron Corporation since March 2009, Veracyte, Inc. since December 2012, and Personalis, Inc. since November 2019. Ms. Eastham served as a member of the
board of directors of Illumina Inc. from August 2004 to May 2019, MorphoSys AG from May 2012 to May 2017, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from September 2005 until its acquisition in August 2012, Genoptix, Inc. from July 2008 until its acquisition in
March 2011, Tercica, Inc. from December 2003 until its acquisition in October 2008, and Trius Therapeutics, Inc. from February 2007 until its acquisition in September 2013. From May 2004 to September 2008, Ms. Eastham served as Executive Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer, and as a member of the Board of Trustees, of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (now Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute), a non-profit corporation
engaged in biomedical research. From April 1999 to May 2004, Ms. Eastham served as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of Diversa Corporation, a biotechnology company. Ms. Eastham previously held similar positions
with CombiChem, Inc., a computational chemistry company, and Cytel Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company. Ms. Eastham also held several positions, including Vice President, Finance, at Boehringer Mannheim Diagnostics, from 1976 to 1988.
Ms. Eastham received a B.S. in Accounting and an M.B.A. from Indiana University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Howard W. Robin
Howard W. Robin, age 68, has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer since January 2007 and has served as a member of our board of directors since February 2007. Mr. Robin served
as Chief Executive Officer, President and a director of Sirna Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, from July 2001 to November 2006 and from January 2001 to June 2001, served as their Chief Operating Officer, President and as a director. From
1991 to 2001, Mr. Robin was Corporate Vice President and General Manager at Berlex Laboratories, Inc. (Berlex), a pharmaceutical products company that is a subsidiary of Schering, AG, and from 1987 to 1991 he served as Vice
President of Finance and Business Development and Chief Financial Officer. From 1984 to 1987, Mr. Robin was Director of Business Planning and Development at Berlex. He was a Senior Associate with Arthur Andersen & Co. prior to joining
Berlex. He received his B.S. in Accounting and Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University and serves as a member of its Board of Trustees.
CURRENT DIRECTORS NOMINATED FOR REELECTION TO SERVE
UNTIL THE 2024 ANNUAL MEETING
Jeff Ajer
Jeff Ajer, age 58, was appointed to our board of directors in September 2017. Mr. Ajer currently serves as Executive
Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BioMarin), a global biotechnology company that develops and commercializes innovative therapies for people with serious and life-threatening rare disorders.
From October 2012 to January 2014, Mr. Ajer served as Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of BioMarin. From April 2009 to October 2012, Mr. Ajer served as BioMarins Vice President, Commercial Operations, The Americas,
where he had responsibility for commercial operations throughout the Americas and led product marketing, reimbursement, and sales operations for BioMarin. Prior to joining BioMarin, Mr. Ajer served in various roles at Genzyme Corporation
(Genzyme) beginning in November 2003, most recently as Vice President, Global Transplant Operations from December 2004 to August 2005. Mr. Ajers experience prior to Genzyme includes roles in sales, marketing and operations at
SangStat Medical Corporation and ICN Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Ajer also served on the board of directors of True North Therapeutics. Mr. Ajer received both a B.S. in chemistry and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Irvine.
Robert B. Chess
Robert B. Chess, age 64, is the Chairman of our board of directors and has served as a director since May 1992. From March 2006 until January 2007, Mr. Chess served as our Acting President and
Chief Executive Officer, and from April 1999 to January 2007, served as Executive Chairman. He also served as our Co-Chief Executive Officer from August 1998 to April 2000, as President from December 1991 to
August 1998, and as
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