Spruce Biosciences Appoints Dale Hooks as Chief Commercial Officer

Spruce Biosciences Inc., a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing novel therapies for neurological disorders, has appointed Dale Hooks as Chief Commercial Officer.

“Dale has demonstrated an exceptional ability to build high-performing commercial teams and drive meaningful value for patients across multiple therapeutic areas, including rare diseases,” said Javier Szwarcberg, M.D., M.P.H., CEO of Spruce Biosciences. “His experience shaping commercial strategy and building launch-ready infrastructure will be instrumental as we enter our next phase of growth and prepare our planned biologics license application submission for the tralesinidase alfa enzyme replacement therapy (TA-ERT) program in Sanfilippo Syndrome Type B (MPS IIIB). We are delighted to welcome Dale to our executive leadership team.”

Experience

Hooks joins the company with nearly 35 years of pharmaceutical marketing and sales experience, including commercial leadership roles for 21 new product launches.

He previously served as Chief Commercial Officer of Applied Therapeutics and was responsible for leading the company’s commercial preparations in two rare diseases. Prior to his role at Applied Therapeutics, he served as the Vice President, Global Commercial Operations at Reata Pharmaceuticals where he oversaw early access programs and led one of the most successful rare disease launches in U.S. history. Reata Pharmaceuticals was subsequently acquired by Biogen. Prior to his role at Reata Pharmaceuticals, Hooks served as Chief Commercial Officer at Clovis Oncology. Previously, Hooks also served in several commercial roles of increasing responsibility at Genentech, most recently as Franchise Head, Oncology.

Hooks has also held leadership and commercial roles at Galderma Laboratories, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, and Glaxo Wellcome, now part of GSK. He earned his BBA from Stephen F. Austin University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“I am thrilled to join this committed and talented team as we prepare for the potential commercial launch of TA-ERT,” Hook remarked. “The Spruce leadership team has built tremendous momentum in advancing TA-ERT, potentially the first disease-modifying treatment option for MPS IIIB, and I am eager to help provide hope and optimism to the patients and their families who are living with this devastating disease.”

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Earlier this year, Spruce Biosciences welcomed two new leaders: Daven Mody, PharmD, will be SVP of Regulatory and Quality. Bruno Gagnon, BPharm, MSc, will be SVP of Clinical Development Operations.