Leadership
Board of Directors
Partnering with Spruce
Spruce is dedicated to developing and commercializing novel therapies for rare endocrine disorders with significant unmet medical need. We welcome discussion on strategic collaboration opportunities with companies that share our mission to advance novel therapies for patients impacted by rare endocrine disorders. For additional information, please contact us at partnering@nullsprucebiosciences.com.
Contact Us
Spruce Biosciences, Inc.
2001 Junipero Serra Boulevard
Suite 640
Daly City, California 94014 USA
info@sprucebiosciences.com
Javier Szwarcberg, M.D., MPH
Chief Executive Officer
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.
Samir Gharib, M.B.A.
President and Chief Financial Officer
Samir Gharib has served as our Chief Financial Officer since May 2020 and President since January 2022. 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. Over the course of his career, Samir has raised nearly $1 Billion from the private and public capital markets, including two IPOs, to fund late-stage clinical development, pipeline expansion and commercialization. From September 2019 to May 2020, Mr. Gharib provided consulting services to various companies with Benchmark Financial Partners (“Benchmark”), a strategic financial advisory firm. From October 2018 to September 2019, Mr. Gharib was the Chief Financial Officer of Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc., a global pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of cell therapeutics for underserved medical conditions. From September 2017 to October 2018, Mr. Gharib served as Managing Director of Benchmark. From October 2013 to September 2017, Mr. Gharib held executive positions of increasing responsibility at Revance Therapeutics, Inc., a commercial-stage biotechnology company, including Vice President of Finance and Administration. From January 2011 to September 2013, Mr. Gharib was the Corporate Controller, Director of Finance for Talon Therapeutics, Inc. Mr. Gharib has been an advisor to Berkeley SkyDeck since January 2020. Mr. Gharib received a Bachelor of Science and M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, and is an active Certified Public Accountant licensed in the State of California.
Will Charlton, M.D., M.A.S.
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Will Charlton has served as our Chief Medical Officer since March 2022. He is an accomplished physician-scientist with nearly two decades of experience as a clinician and industry executive building successful programs across clinical development, medical affairs and drug safety. He joined Spruce from 89bio, Inc., where he served as Vice President, Clinical Development. Prior to 89bio, he was Senior Medical Director, Clinical Development at Ascendis Pharma. Prior to Ascendis, Dr. Charlton served as Executive Medical Director, Clinical Development, Liver Therapeutic Area at Allergan. Prior to his career in industry, Dr. Charlton spent over a decade in clinical practice as a board-certified pediatric endocrinologist. Dr. Charlton earned a medical degree from the University of Southern California. He completed his pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and his fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco.
Libbie Mansell, Ph.D., M.B.A., R.A.C.
Chief Regulatory and Quality Officer
Dr. Mansell has served as our Chief Regulatory and Quality Officer since April 2022. She is a seasoned regulatory affairs, development strategy and program management professional, with over 30 years of industry experience in serious and rare diseases. She joins Spruce from Asklepios BioPharmaceutical (AskBio), where she served as Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. Prior to AskBio, Dr. Mansell was Managing Director and Founder of White Oak BioPharma Solutions, a global regulatory strategy and operations consulting firm. Prior to consulting, she held positions of increasing responsibility in regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, quality affairs and chemistry, manufacturing and controls with several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including Curis, Sigma-Tau Research, Genzyme, CombinatoRx, Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Mansell earned a Ph.D. in pharmacokinetics and biopharmaceutics with a graduate minor in applied statistics from Oregon State University and an M.B.A. in finance and international business from New York University.
Chris Barnes, Ph.D.
Vice President, Biometrics and Project Leadership
Chris joined Spruce with over 15 years of drug development experience. Prior to joining Spruce, Chris served in various leadership roles across Biometrics, Project Leadership and Alliance Management at Theravance Biopharma US, most recently as Senior Director, Biostatistics, and Project Team Leader. Prior to Theravance, Chris held positions of increasing responsibility at Innoviva Inc., formerly Theravance Inc. Previously, Chris held positions at Santen Inc. and Gilead Sciences. During his career, Chris has contributed to the development and approval of several products for high-risk populations including Vibativ® in MRSA-associated pneumonia and Yupelri® inhalation solution for severe COPD as well as products for larger populations such as the Ellipta family of respiratory products (BREO, ANORO and TRELEGY). In addition, Dr. Barnes is an author in over 30 journal articles covering the fields of pulmonology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, clinical pharmacology and statistics. Chris earned his Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences.
Dasharatha Reddy, Ph.D.
Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing
Dasharatha (Dash) joined Spruce with over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical development of small molecules from discovery to commercialization. Prior to joining Spruce, Dash served as Head of Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) at Landos Biopharma. Before Landos, Dash was responsible for leading pharmaceutical development and manufacturing operations at Reviva Pharmaceuticals, with a focus on products for the treatment of central nervous system disorders. Dash previously led the development of products leading to the approval of a New Drug Application under the 505(b)2 pathway at Teikoku Pharma USA. In earlier roles, Dash contributed to the development and approval of small molecules to treat a variety of diseases at Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Relypsa, and Horizon Therapeutics. Dash earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Science and performed post-doctoral research at Northwestern University.
Pamela Wedel
Vice President, Development Operations
Pam joins Spruce with more than 30 years of drug development experience across biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and CRO industries. This experience includes leadership of cross-functional project teams, direction of multinational clinical development programs and contribution to product development strategies. Prior to joining Spruce, Pam served as the Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations at Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, a clinical‐stage company acquired by Pfizer in 2021, that was dedicated to the development of therapies for rare, life-threatening diseases affecting patients with compromised immune systems. During her career, Pam has played key leadership roles in the advancement of global clinical trials in rare diseases, including pediatric studies in cholestatic liver disease which ultimately led to the approval of LivmarliTM (Mirum Pharmaceuticals). Additional prior experience includes senior leadership positions at Shire, Lumena Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Shire), BrainCells, and Ancile Pharmaceuticals. Pam holds a BS in Biology from San Diego State University.
Javier Szwarcberg, M.D., MPH
Chief Executive Officer
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.