Alder BioPharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced the appointment of Wendy L. Yarno to its board of directors.
Ms. Yarno has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry as a public company director and product commercialization team leader, including 26 years with Merck & Co. Inc.

While at Merck, Ms. Yarno held positions of increasing responsibility with a focus on drug development, regulatory strategy, market development, global product strategy and product lifecycle management.

Most recently until her retirement in 2008, she was chief marketing officer with oversight of a global team that handled pre- and post-launch product commercialization activities for more than 20 therapeutic areas.

Before this, Ms. Yarno served in several areas, including as general manager of the cardiovascular/metabolic business unit in the U.S., executive vice president of worldwide human health marketing, the leader of human resources and one of the top executives in both managed care and sales organizations.

Earlier in her career Ms. Yarno was vice president of the women’s health care franchise for Johnson & Johnson’s Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical subsidiary.

She has served on the boards of emerging biopharmaceuticals and medical technology companies, including St. Jude Medical Inc., Medivation Inc., Durata Therapeutics Inc., ADial Pharmaceuticals LLC., and PluroGen Therapeutics LLC. She currently serves on the boards of Aratana Therapeutics Inc. and MyoKardia, Inc.

Ms. Yarno holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Portland State University and a master’s degree in business administration from Temple University’s Fox School of Business. ■

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