Gritstone Oncology, Inc. announced the appointment of Rahsaan W. Thompson as its executive vice president and general counsel. Mr. Thompson joins Gritstone with over 20 years of experience as corporate counsel. Prior to Gritstone, Mr. Thompson was the general counsel for Opiant Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for all legal aspects of corporate strategy, intellectual property, transactions, compliance and regulatory matters. Previously, as the vice president of law for Actelion Pharmaceuticals, he led the Actelion Law Department based in San Francisco, California. In this position, Mr. Thompson was responsible for overseeing the law department’s support for the Actelion U.S. business. In earlier years at Actelion, he served as associate general counsel and corporate secretary, where he led litigation, government investigations and acquisitions. Before joining Actelion, he worked for the law firm of Quarles & Brady in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Thompson was the associate general counsel at Abraxis Bioscience, before its acquisition by Celegene. Mr. Thompson also served as Corporate Counsel at McKesson Corporation. He began his career as an assistant district attorney in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office. Mr. Thompson obtained his bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University and his law degree from Hofstra University. He has served on various non-profit boards and presently serves on the Board of Directors for the Oakland Museum of California Board of Directors as the finance committee chair.