# David Earp

> David J. Earp is the President and CEO of Circle Pharma, a South San Francisco clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company building orally available macrocycle drugs aimed at cancer targets long deemed undruggable. A biochemist turned patent lawyer turned chief executive, Earp holds a PhD in biochemistry from Cambridge and a JD from Lewis & Clark, and has led Circle since 2013, steering it through a $90M Series D, a $607M collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, and the first human dosing of its lead cyclin A/B inhibitor CID-078.

- **Role:** President and CEO at Circle Pharma, Inc.
- **Organizations:** Circle Pharma, Inc., Geron Corporation, StART Licensing, Inc., Viagen Corp., Klarquist Sparkman, LLP
- **Nationality:** United States
- **Education:** B.Sc. (First Class Honours), Microbiology, University of Leeds, Ph.D., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Cambridge, J.D. (magna cum laude), Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College
- **Known for:** Led Circle Pharma as President and CEO since 2013, Closed a $90 million Series D financing in September 2024 led by The Column Group with Nextech Invest and Euclidean Capital, Secured a research collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim worth up to $607 million in upfront and milestone payments

## Career timeline

- **Earlier** — Partner in the intellectual property law firm Klarquist Sparkman, LLP, Portland, Oregon
- **1990s-2000s** — Held senior roles at Geron Corporation including chief patent counsel, chief legal officer, and senior vice president of corporate transactions
- **2000s** — Led the spin-out of Geron's nuclear transfer technology into StART Licensing; served on the boards of StART and Viagen, including as executive chairman of Viagen
- **2013** — Became President and CEO of Circle Pharma in October
- **2024-09** — Closed a $90 million Series D financing led by The Column Group
- **2024-10** — Announced a research collaboration and license agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim worth up to $607 million; first patients dosed in the Phase 1 trial of CID-078

## Achievements

- Led Circle Pharma as President and CEO since 2013
- Closed a $90 million Series D financing in September 2024 led by The Column Group with Nextech Invest and Euclidean Capital
- Secured a research collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim worth up to $607 million in upfront and milestone payments
- Advanced CID-078, a first-in-class oral cyclin A/B RxL inhibitor, into Phase 1 clinical trials for advanced solid tumors
- Built a broad IP portfolio and led numerous partnering, licensing, and collaboration deals at Geron Corporation
- Led the sale of Viagen to TransOva Genetics as executive chairman

## Latest updates

- **2024-09** — Circle Pharma closed a $90 million Series D financing led by The Column Group.
- **2024-10** — Circle Pharma announced a collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim worth up to $607 million and dosed the first patients in the Phase 1 trial of CID-078.
- **2026-01** — Circle Pharma slated to present at the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

## Links

- Website: https://circlepharma.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/david-j-earp-jd-phd-584ba03

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/david-earp
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-13