John Johnson

About John Johnson

John H. Johnson, age 67, is an independent Class II director of Xeris Biopharma, serving since October 2021 (joined in connection with the Strongbridge acquisition); his current term runs through the 2026 annual meeting . He is a veteran biopharma executive, formerly CEO/Chairman at Dendreon and CEO roles at Savient, ImClone, and Melinta, with earlier leadership at Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly; he holds a B.S. from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania . In 2024, he attended the annual meeting and met the company’s director attendance thresholds (≥75%), with the board meeting seven times that year .

Past Roles

External Roles

Board Governance

• Committee memberships: Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee member; committee chaired by Dawn Halkuff; met four times in 2024; all members are Nasdaq “independent” .
• Audit and Compensation committees: Johnson is not listed as a member; Audit Committee (Schmid chair, transitioning to Brady post-2025 meeting) met four times; Compensation Committee (Bormann chair) met five times; all members independent .
• Independence: The board determined all directors except CEO John Shannon are independent under Nasdaq and SEC rules; Johnson is independent .
• Attendance: Board met seven times in 2024; all directors attended ≥75% of meetings except Dr. Sherman (71%); Johnson attended the 2024 annual meeting .

Fixed Compensation

Performance Compensation

• No director-specific performance metrics (e.g., revenue/EBITDA/TSR goals) are disclosed for RSU awards; director equity is time-based to align with stockholder value .

Other Directorships & Interlocks

Expertise & Qualifications

• Decades of biopharma leadership across commercialization, oncology franchises, and corporate turnarounds (Dendreon, ImClone, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly) .
• Extensive board governance experience across public biopharma companies and industry associations (PhRMA, BIO) .
• Education: B.S., East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania .
• Committee service at Xeris focused on Nominating & Corporate Governance, including oversight of ESG initiatives and board evaluations .

Equity Ownership

Governance Assessment

• Independence and committee effectiveness: Johnson is independent and serves on the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee, which met four times and oversees director selection, governance guidelines, and ESG—supportive of board effectiveness .
• Engagement: Board met seven times in 2024; Johnson attended the annual meeting and met the ≥75% attendance threshold (only Dr. Sherman fell below) .
• Pay and alignment: 2024 director compensation comprises $55,000 cash and $121,500 RSU grant-date fair value under a policy emphasizing time-based equity and guideline-aligned retention; change-of-control accelerates vesting, which is standard but reduces performance linkage at sale events .
• Ownership and compliance: Johnson holds 1,108,680 shares (including options/RSUs within 60 days) and is within the board’s ownership guidelines framework; broad anti-hedging/pledging and retention rules strengthen alignment .
• Conflicts and related-party exposure: Company discloses no related-party transactions ≥$120,000 since Jan 1, 2024; Audit Committee reviews and must approve any related-party transactions, mitigating interlock risks from Johnson’s external biopharma/CRO roles .
• Red flags: The company reported three inadvertent late Forms 4, including for John Johnson, tied to settlement of contingent value rights—administrative in nature but a procedural lapse to monitor . Multiple external board commitments could present time/attention risks; continued attendance and committee engagement partly offset this concern .

Overall signal: Independent, engaged director with deep biopharma governance and operating experience; compensation structure is equity-heavy and guideline-driven, with limited evidence of conflicts or related-party dealings. Monitor procedural compliance (Section 16 timeliness) and interlocks as the company grows.