Spruce Biosciences Appoints Javier Szwarcberg, M.D., MPH as Chief Executive Officer
January 05 2022 - 08:00AM
Business Wire
– Samir Gharib, MBA, Promoted to President
–
Spruce Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRB), a late-stage
biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing
novel therapies for rare endocrine disorders with significant unmet
medical need, today announced that Dr. Javier Szwarcberg, M.D.,
MPH, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and as a member of
the board of directors. Samir Gharib, MBA, has been concurrently
promoted to President and will continue in his role as Chief
Financial Officer.
“With his range of leadership and demonstrated success in rare
disease drug development, Javier is an excellent fit for Spruce
Biosciences as we enter the next chapter of clinical development,”
said Mike Grey, Executive Chairman, Spruce Biosciences. “I, along
with Spruce’s entire board, look forward to working with Javier and
our leadership team to timely execute on our clinical development
plans for tildacerfont and to deliver on Spruce’s mission to bring
novel treatment options to patients with rare endocrine disorders.
Likewise, we are pleased to recognize Samir’s efforts with his
promotion to President, and we expect his operational and business
acumen to launch Spruce Biosciences into the next phase of
growth.”
Dr. Javier Szwarcberg is an accomplished physician executive
with over 18 years of leadership experience in the biotechnology
and pharmaceutical industries. He has an exceptionally rich skill
set in clinical research and drug development, leading more than 22
clinical trials for a variety of drugs – including small molecules,
peptides and biologics – with a proven track record of 4 successful
drug approvals. Most recently, Dr. Szwarcberg served as the Group
Vice President and Head of Program and Portfolio Development for
BioMarin Pharmaceuticals. Previously, he held positions as Senior
Vice President, Head of Program and Portfolio Management at
Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical and Vice President of R&D and
Business Development at Horizon Pharma. He is currently a
scientific advisor to Abalone Bio. Dr. Szwarcberg received his MPH
from the Harvard School of Public Health and his M.D. from
Universidad de Buenos Aires School of Medicine.
"It is an amazing opportunity to join Spruce during a
transformative time for the company and lead a team advancing novel
therapeutics for rare endocrine disorders. Spruce has an
opportunity to evolve the treatment paradigm for people living with
classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), improving disease
control while reducing the burden of daily glucocorticoid use, and
bring relief to a patients that have not benefited from a new
treatment in over 50 years,” said Javier Szwarcberg, M.D., MPH,
Chief Executive Officer, Spruce Biosciences. “With a focus on the
tildacerfont late-stage program in adult classic CAH, as well as
expanding opportunities in pediatric classic CAH and polycystic
ovary syndrome (PCOS), I look forward to working with the Spruce
team to maximize the value of our pipeline programs for patients,
caregivers and physicians seeking important new treatment
options.”
The promotion of Samir Gharib to President follows his service
as Chief Financial Officer of Spruce since May 2020 and reflects an
evolution of the company’s leadership structure. In this new role,
Mr. Gharib will lead the finance, business and corporate
development, investor relations, corporate communications, human
resources, legal and information technology functions at Spruce.
Mr. Gharib is a proven and experienced leader in the global
biopharmaceutical arena who has demonstrated success in strategy
and execution of transformative capital raises, strategic
transactions, and support of commercial product launches. As
President and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Gharib will work closely
with Dr. Szwarcberg to scale the organization and execute on the
company’s mission to advance its pipeline of indications for
tildacerfont.
Inducement Awards
In connection with Dr. Szwarcberg’s employment with the company,
Dr. Szwarcberg will be granted non-qualified stock options to
purchase an aggregate of 1,000,000 shares of common stock. The
independent members of the company’s Board of Directors approved
the awards as an inducement material to Dr. Szwarcberg’s employment
in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The stock
options will have an exercise price per share equal to the closing
price of Spruce Biosciences’ common stock on January 3, 2022 and
will be subject to a mix of time-based and performance-based
vesting criteria.
About Spruce Biosciences
Spruce Biosciences is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company
focused on developing and commercializing novel therapies for rare
endocrine disorders with significant unmet medical need. Spruce is
initially developing its wholly-owned product candidate,
tildacerfont, as the potential first non-steroidal therapy for
patients suffering from classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia
(CAH). Classic CAH is a serious and life-threatening disease with
no known novel therapies approved in approximately 50 years. Spruce
is also developing tildacerfont for women suffering from a rare
form of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) with primary adrenal
androgen excess. To learn more, visit www.sprucebiosciences.com and
follow us on Twitter @Spruce_Bio, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release regarding matters
that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements”
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include statements
regarding, among other things, the impact of new management hires
and promotions, the fulfillment of Spruce’s strategic business
objectives, and the advancement of Spruce’s drug development
pipeline. Because such statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Words such
as “plans”, “will”, “believe”, “potential” and similar expressions
are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are based upon Spruce’s current
expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or
may prove to be incorrect. Actual results could differ materially
from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a
result of various risks and uncertainties, which include, without
limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with Spruce’s
business in general, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the
other risks described in Spruce’s filings with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements contained
in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were
made and are based on management’s assumptions and estimates as of
such date. Spruce undertakes no obligation to update such
statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist
after the date on which they were made, except as required by
law.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220105005390/en/
Media Contact Will Zasadny Canale Communications (619)
961-8848 will.zasadny@canalecomm.com
media@sprucebiosciences.com
Investors Xuan Yang Solebury Trout (415) 971-9412
xyang@soleburytrout.com investors@sprucebiosciences.com
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