From a rural upbringing to becoming a seasoned life sciences executive Scott Samuels, the Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary of Geron Corporation, shares his journey, discussing his transition from private practice to in-house. In this episode, Scott talks to Lina Guo about scaling legal and compliance teams, transitioning from clinical to commercial stages in biotech, and the importance of mentorship and networking.
Scott Samuels is Chief Legal Officer for Geron Corporation. Prior to joining Geron, he served as Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Prilenia Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on novel therapeutics to slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases and neurodevelopmental disorders, from March to May 2023. Before that, he served as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel of BeiGene, Ltd., from May 2017 to July 2022, where he built a large, global legal and compliance team, oversaw launches of three internally developed drug products in the U.S., Europe and China and development of a global healthcare compliance program, and led key strategic transactions with Amgen, Inc., Novartis AG and Celgene (now Bristol Myers Squibb).
Prior to BeiGene, Mr. Samuels was assistant general counsel and then acting general counsel at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he managed the company’s legal affairs, including SEC compliance and corporate governance and key licensing and distribution agreements prior to ARIAD’s acquisition by Takeda. Mr. Samuels also practiced law for 17 years in the corporate and life sciences practices at Mintz Levin, a highly regarded national law firm. Mr. Samuels received his B.A. in philosophy from Cornell University and his J.D. from George Mason University School of Law.
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