Celgene looks in-house for new general counsel

Celgene Corporation is promoting Jonathan Biller to the position of executive vice president and general counsel, effective July 3. In his new role, Biller will be responsible for global legal strategy and will serve on the biopharmaceutical company’s executive committee.

Biller succeeds Gerald Masoudi, who has served as Celgene’s executive vice president and general counsel since 2015. According to the company, Masoudi is leaving Celgene to return to Washington, DC with his family and assume the role of chief legal officer with a private company outside of the biopharmaceutical industry.

Biller joined Celgene in 2011 and was most recently senior vice president of tax and treasury and served as the company’s treasurer. He was previously general counsel, chief tax officer and secretary with Bunge, a publicly traded agriculture and food company, from 2008 to 2011. Before Bunge, he worked at Alcon, having begun his legal career at Hopkins & Sutter and then Foley & Lardner after the firms merged.

Celgene is engaged primarily in the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases.

‘Jonathan has been an integral part of Celgene’s senior management team for the last seven years,’ says Mark Alles, Celgene chair and CEO, in a statement. ‘He has led our capital allocation strategy and provided industry-wide leadership on US corporate tax reform. His extensive legal experience and deep understanding of Celgene enable him to immediately strengthen our leadership team as general counsel.

‘Jerry has made many important contributions to Celgene, and we wish him and his family all the best.’

Eloxx Pharmaceuticals recently hired Neil Belloff, who was previously senior corporate counsel at Celgene, as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary.