Spruce Biosciences Expands Leadership Team

Spruce Biosciences, Inc., a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing novel therapies for neurological disorders with significant unmet medical need, has appointed Brian Walls as Vice President, Market Access and Darren M. Johnson as Vice President, Commercial Operations.

“We are thrilled to welcome Brian and Darren to our team. Brian and Darren are proven commercial leaders who bring highly complementary expertise that is critical to a successful rare disease launch — Brian in market access, pricing, and payer strategy, and Darren in commercial operations, analytics, and launch infrastructure,” said Dale Hooks, Chief Commercial Officer of Spruce Biosciences. “Both have helped shape some of the most successful launches in rare disease, and their experience will be invaluable as we build our commercial foundation. I look forward to working closely with them as we prepare for a potential commercial launch of tralesinidase alfa enzyme replacement therapy (TA-ERT) for the treatment of Sanfilippo Syndrome Type B (MPS IIIB) next year.”

Brian Walls, Vice President, Market Access

Walls brings more than 20 years of biopharmaceutical commercial leadership experience and has contributed to more than 18 product launches across rare, ultra-rare, oncology, neurology, and metabolic disorders.

Most recently, he served as Vice President, Market Access at Applied Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Cycle Pharmaceuticals), where he architected the U.S. commercialization access platform for ultra-rare neurology assets. Prior to Applied Therapeutics, he served as Vice President, Market Access at Reata Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Biogen), leading enterprise access strategy for the launch of SKYCLARYS.

Earlier, Walls served as Executive Director, Market Access at Progenics Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Lantheus), where he secured New Technology Add-on Payment (NTAP) approval for AZEDRA, and as Head of Value & Access at Alexion Pharmaceuticals (acquired by AstraZeneca). He has also held senior commercial roles at Amgen Incorporated and GlaxoSmithKline.

Walls earned his MBA from the University of Indianapolis and his B.S. from Purdue University.

Darren M. Johnson, Vice President, Commercial Operations

Johnson brings nearly two decades of biopharmaceutical commercial leadership experience in market planning, analytics, and operations, with deep expertise in rare disease launch readiness. Most recently, he served as Vice President, Commercial Operations & Analytics at Applied Therapeutics, Inc., where he built the company’s commercial data ecosystem, sales operations, and pricing and targeting strategy from scratch within six months of hire.

Prior to Applied Therapeutics, he served as Vice President, Market Planning & Global Commercial Operations at Reata Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Biogen), where he was instrumental in the commercialization preparation and launch execution that contributed to Reata’s $7.3 billion acquisition. Previously, Johnson served as Senior Director, Global Commercial Analytics at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., leading commercial analytics and operations for a global rare disease business with product sales in 72 countries, and earlier held positions of increasing responsibility at Genentech, Inc., most recently as Group Manager, Forecasting & Business Analysis.

Johnson holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Japanese Language from the University of California, Berkeley.