Company

Sprout Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately held bioscience company established in 2011 as a spin-off of Slate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Sprout is now fully independent of Slate, a highly successful specialty pharmaceutical company focused in men’s sexual health that was sold in December 2011. The Slate founders and executive team established and will run Sprout Pharmaceuticals. Sprout is focused on the commercialization of products that address important unmet medical needs in the field of female sexual health. Sprout Pharmaceuticals has acquired flibanserin, a centrally acting product that has shown promise in the treatment of selected aspects of female sexual dysfunction from Boehringer Ingelheim.

 
 

Therapeutic Focus

Sprout is focused in the field of female sexual dysfunction.

Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD) is described clinically as when a women experiences distress due to problems with sexual desire, arousal, orgasm or pain. FSD in women is believed to be significantly more common than erectile dysfunction in men. Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, or HSDD, is the most common complaint among women experiencing sexual dysfunction. HSDD is defined as the lack of or absence of sexual fantasies and desire for sexual activity that causes significant personal distress or interpersonal difficulty (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).

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Leadership

Robert Whitehead

Bob co-founded and serves as Chief Executive Officer of Sprout. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Slate until it’s acquisition in December 2011. From June 2004 to March 2005, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly-traded specialty pharmaceutical company in the fields of urology and men’s health. Previously, Mr. Whitehead served in executive capacities at Prestwick Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, ZymoGenetics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, Dura Pharmaceuticals and Élan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which acquired Dura Pharmaceuticals in 2000.

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Board of Directors

Anthony Wild – Chairman

Tony was the Chairman of the privately-held MedPointe Pharmaceuticals Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company based in Somerset, New Jersey, until its acquisition by Meda AB of Sweden in August 2007. Tony previously served as Chief Executive Officer of MedPointe from 2001 to 2006. Between 1995 and 2000, he worked for the Warner-Lambert Company of Morris Plains, New Jersey. Starting as President of Warner-Lambert’s Parke-Davis (North America) unit, Tony was promoted to Executive Vice President and President of its global Pharmaceutical Sector in 1996. Tony received Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Churchill College, University of Cambridge and graduated from the University of York with a B.A. honors degree in Chemistry. He served as a member of the board of directors of Slate until Slate’s acquisition in December 2011. Prior to Warner-Lambert, Tony spent over 20 years with Schering-Plough in 26 different countries. He currently serves on the board of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., India’s largest pharmaceutical company, as well as of several other privately owned healthcare companies.

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Sprout Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

4208 Six Forks Rd, Suite 1010

Raleigh, NC 27609

p. 919.882.0850

f. 919.882.0855

 
 

Company

Sprout Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately held bioscience company established in 2011 as a spin-off of Slate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Sprout is now fully independent of Slate, a highly successful specialty pharmaceutical company focused in men’s sexual health that was sold in December 2011. The Slate founders and executive team established and will run Sprout Pharmaceuticals. Sprout is focused on the commercialization of products that address important unmet medical needs in the field of female sexual health. Sprout Pharmaceuticals has acquired flibanserin, a centrally acting product that has shown promise in the treatment of selected aspects of female sexual dysfunction from Boehringer Ingelheim.

 
Contact us today!

Therapeutic Focus

Sprout is focused in the field of female sexual dysfunction.

Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD) is described clinically as when a women experiences distress due to problems with sexual desire, arousal, orgasm or pain. FSD in women is believed to be significantly more common than erectile dysfunction in men. Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, or HSDD, is the most common complaint among women experiencing sexual dysfunction. HSDD is defined as the lack of or absence of sexual fantasies and desire for sexual activity that causes significant personal distress or interpersonal difficulty (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).

Etiology

A number of potential causes and contributing factors to HSDD have been identified, indicative of a complex interaction of physiological, psychological, emotional and/or relationship components.

It is widely accepted that the brain plays a central role in sexual function and female sexual desire. Current medical research suggests that neurotransmitters in the brain (particularly dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin) play an important role in modulating sexual desire. Consequently, sexual dysfunctions could occur when the balance of these neurotransmitters is disrupted. Diminished function of the dopamine system, which increases sexual desire and excitement, and the norepinephrine system, which affects arousal and orgasm, may lead to the inability to begin the sexual response cycle. An overactive serotonin system, which can decrease desire and delay orgasm, may also lead to inhibition of sexual response. If these neurotransmitter systems are not appropriately balanced, sexual dysfunction may result. Women with HSDD may have an imbalance in these systems, which may, in turn, affect the typical progression of the sexual response cycle and the ability to experience sexual desire. Pharmaceutical intervention into the biochemical component of sexual dysfunction shows promise but to date, no drugs are approved and marketed in the United States.

Diagnosis & Prevalence

The prevalence of HSDD is significant. In 1999, the National Health and Social Life Survey assessed sexual functioning among men and women in the U.S. The survey reported that 43% of women experienced some type of sexual dysfunction compared to 31% of men (Laumann, 1999). In women, the most common complaint was low sexual desire (22%). The Global Study of Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors found similar results in a larger-scaled international survey of sexual problems among men and women 40 to 80 years of age. The GSSAB found that 26% to 43% of women experienced low sexual desire compared to 13% to 28% of men (Laumann et al., 2006). In 2006, the Women’s International Study of Health and Sexuality (“WISHeS”) assessed the prevalence of HSDD and how it affected quality of life among U.S. women based on their reproductive status and age. The WISHeS study found that 24% to 36% of women between 20 and 70 years of age had problems with low sexual desire (Lieblum et al., 2006). In addition, the percentage of younger surgically menopausal women with HSDD between 20 to 49 years of age was significantly greater (26%) versus pre-menopausal women in the same age group (14%). WISHeS concluded that HSDD is prevalent among women of all ages, regardless of reproductive status.

Treatment of HSDD

Currently, there is no FDA-approved treatment for pre-menopausal women with HSDD.  Sprout’s focus is to commercialize a therapy to meet this important unmet medical need.

 
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Leadership

Robert Whitehead

Bob co-founded and serves as Chief Executive Officer of Sprout. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Slate until it’s acquisition in December 2011. From June 2004 to March 2005, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly-traded specialty pharmaceutical company in the fields of urology and men’s health. Previously, Mr. Whitehead served in executive capacities at Prestwick Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, ZymoGenetics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, Dura Pharmaceuticals and Élan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which acquired Dura Pharmaceuticals in 2000.

Cynthia Whitehead

Cindy co-founded and serves as Chief Operating Officer of Sprout Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Sprout acquired the global rights for flibanserin from Boehringer Ingelheim late last year and is poised to be the first company to have a drug FDA approved for the treatment of female sexual dysfunction. Sprout is a privately held company founded by the former executives and shareholders of Slate Pharmaceuticals.

Sprout spun out of Slate, a company Cindy co-founded and built around the only FDA-approved long-acting testosterone preparation, Testopel. There she was head of all its operational functions and led Slate through a transition period after successfully selling it to Actient Pharmaceuticals in December 2011. She has just under 20 years of experience having built brands and companies, managing high performing sales organizations and leading marketing and corporate communications functions. She also founded Truth-In-Beauty, a company focused on a unique approach to top quality sun protectants in cosmetics.

Cindy has held previous roles with Merck Pharmaceuticals, Dura Pharmaceuticals, Elan Pharmaceuticals, Torre Lazur West and QVC. She graduated as a Rowley academic scholar with a B.A. from Marymount University.  

James Symons

Jim serves as VP, Drug Development for Sprout.  Most recently he was vice president, clinical development at Meditrina Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Phrixus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., with responsibility for the management of the company’s clinical programs.  Prior to joining Meditrina in 2006, he was a member of the research faculty of the Epidemiology Department in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan where he conducted and analyzed studies from data collected in large, longitudinal programs.  He began his clinical career at Parke-Davis with responsibilities increasing from clinical scientist to senior director until his retirement from Pfizer in 2005.  Jim managed several programs in women’s health and has participated at senior levels in five successful NDAs. He has an M.S. in physiological psychology, an M.S. in biostatistics and research design and obtained his Ph.D. in epidemiologic science from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

James A. Simon, MD, CCD, NCMP, FACOG

Jim serves as Chief Medical Officer of Sprout. He also is Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and maintains a private practice of reproductive endocrinology and infertility there. Dr. Simon is certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in both obstetrics and gynecology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Dr. Simon received his M.D. degree from Rush Medical College and completed his internship and residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the George Washington University Hospital. He completed his fellowship training in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Simon is an established investigator in reproductive endocrinology. His research focuses on the menopause, particularly osteoporosis, hormone replacement therapies, and female sexual function. His honors and achievements include being selected to “Top Washington Physicians,” “America’s Top Obstetricians and Gynecologists”, and “The Best Doctors in America.” He is an author or co-author on more than 230 articles, chapters and proceedings, as well as more than 180 published abstracts.

Matthew Petzold

Matt serves as Chief Financial Officer of Sprout.  He joined Slate in August 2011 where he served as its Chief Financial Officer until Slate’s acquisition in December 2011.  From January 2008 to November 2010, Matt served as the Chief Financial Officer of Bandwidth.com, a communications provider.  From January 2005 to January 2008 he was the Chief Financial Officer of Motricity Inc., a hosted managed technology platform for the delivery of mobile applications and content.  Matt has also served in executive positions at Verestar, a satellite services company and subsidiary of American Tower Corporation, a publicly-traded company, MediaCenters, Inc., a start-up metro optical network provider, and UUNET Technologies, one of the largest internet services providers.  He started his career at Arthur Andersen where he was an auditor from June 1987 to June 2005.  Matt earned a B.A. from Gettysburg College.

Frederick Pruden

Fred serves as Vice President, Technical Operations of Sprout.  He joined Slate in August 2011 where he served in the same role until Slate’s acquisition in December 2011.  Prior to joining Slate, Fred was Vice President of Manufacturing Operations at AAI Pharma since 2004.  Previously, he was VP Manufacturing Operations for King Pharmaceuticals, General Manager at Novo Nordisk, Executive Vice President at LyphoMed and Plant Manager of Sterling Drugs’ 250,000 sq. ft. sterile manufacturing and lyophilization facility in Kansas.  Fred began his career at Abbott Laboratories as a Production Manager and he earned a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Fred has received numerous awards for his contributions to efficiency, compliance and productivity.

James Yuan, MD, PhD, MBA

James serves as Director, Biostatistics for Sprout and oversees biostatistics of clinical trials. Most recently he was Manager of Biostatistics at SRA International. Prior to joining SRA, he was a Sr. Biostatistician at Salix Pharmaceutical. He started his clinical trial career at PPD over 10 years ago. James received his MD and M.S in Biostatistics from Shanghai Medical University and was a faculty member of the School of Public Health. He received his Ph.D. in Health Education from Pennsylvania State University and a MBA from Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Krista Barbour, PhD

Krista serves as Scientific Project Director for Sprout. Prior to joining Sprout, she was an Associate Director in the Regional Medical & Research Specialists group at Pfizer. Before transitioning to the pharmaceutical industry, she completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University Medical Center, where she conducted research in the area of health psychology. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Southern California and is currently working toward her MPH at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill.

Richard Davan, Esq.

Rick serves as Director, Regulatory Affairs for Sprout.  Most recently Rick held a similar position with POZEN Inc. and had responsibility for regulatory activities within the Product Development group.  Prior to joining POZEN in 2007, Rick was with the Regulatory groups at Wyeth Vaccines, Allergan and The Immune Response Corporation with similar responsibilities regarding the products BOTOX, HibTITER, Meningitec, Prevnar, and Remune.  Rick is a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, MA and Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, CA and is a member of the State Bar of California and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Karthi K. Natarajan, MPH

Karthi is a Senior Clinical Study Manager for Sprout and oversees clinical trial execution in the company’s primary clinical flibanserin program.  Before joining Sprout, Karthi was the Global Clinical Study Manager at Abraxis Bioscience (a wholly owned subsidiary of Celgene Corporation) for nearly 4 years.  He oversaw the registrational Phase III trial of ABI-007 (Abraxane®) versus dacarbazine in Metastatic Malignant Melanoma.  For several years prior to that he worked in various clinical management roles at Gilead Sciences and EMD Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Merck KGaA.  Before that, his career started at Rho, Incorporated where he was both a project coordinator and project manager.  Karthi received his BSPH and MPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health.

 
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Board of Directors

Anthony Wild – Chairman

Tony was the Chairman of the privately-held MedPointe Pharmaceuticals Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company based in Somerset, New Jersey, until its acquisition by Meda AB of Sweden in August 2007. Tony previously served as Chief Executive Officer of MedPointe from 2001 to 2006. Between 1995 and 2000, he worked for the Warner-Lambert Company of Morris Plains, New Jersey. Starting as President of Warner-Lambert’s Parke-Davis (North America) unit, Tony was promoted to Executive Vice President and President of its global Pharmaceutical Sector in 1996. Tony received Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Churchill College, University of Cambridge and graduated from the University of York with a B.A. honors degree in Chemistry. He served as a member of the board of directors of Slate until Slate’s acquisition in December 2011. Prior to Warner-Lambert, Tony spent over 20 years with Schering-Plough in 26 different countries. He currently serves on the board of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., India’s largest pharmaceutical company, as well as of several other privately owned healthcare companies.

W. Robert Dahl

Bob is currently a private investor, focusing on the healthcare industry. Previously, he was the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Arrowhawk Capital Partners, an investment company and the Vice President of Strategic Business Development and co-founder of Golden Pond Healthcare, Inc. From April 1999 until June 2006, Mr. Dahl served as the head of Global Healthcare for the Carlyle Group, a leading private equity firm, where he was responsible for the firm’s investments in the healthcare field. Prior to Carlyle, Mr. Dahl served as co-head of healthcare investment banking in North America at Credit Suisse First Boston. Mr. Dahl is also a director of several private healthcare companies. Mr. Dahl received a BA from Middlebury College and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, where he was a Baker Scholar, and recipient of a Loeb Rhodes fellowship. He served as a member of the board of directors of Slate until Slate’s acquisition in December 2011.

Richard DeSchutter

Dick joined DuPont Pharmaceutical Company as Chairman in July 2000. He later was named Chief Executive Officer and remained until the 2001 sale of the company to Bristol Myers-Squibb. Previously, he served as Vice Chairman and Chief Administration Officer of the Monsanto Company. He transitioned to Pharmacia Corporation, a drug manufacturer created through the merger of Monsanto and Pharmacia & Upjohn in April 2000, as Chief Administrative Officer and a director. Dick served as President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of G.D. Searle Company from 1995 through 1999. He received his B.S. and M.S. in chemical engineering at the University of Arizona and completed the Advanced Management Program at Columbia University. He served as Chairman of the board of directors of Slate until Slate’s acquisition in December 2011. Dick is currently Lead Director at Smith and Nephew and Chairman of Incyte.

Douglas Eckert

Doug is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Hoar Construction LLC, one of America’s leading general contractors and program management companies. He currently leads its Human Resources, Legal, Risk Management and Marketing departments. Doug is responsible for strategic decision-making company wide. Prior to joining Hoar, Mr. Eckert was a partner in Bradley, Arant, Boult Cummings’ Construction and Procurement Group, chairman of the firm’s International Practice Group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Mr. Eckert holds a U.E. certificate from the International School in Suva, Fiji, a J.D. from The University of Virginia School Of Law and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from The University of Virginia. He served as a member of the board of directors of Slate until Slate’s acquisition in December 2011.

Michael Ford

Mike was President of Searle Europe, an organization with 2500 employees, $1 billion in annual revenues and three manufacturing plants in Spain, Germany and Russia. He was a member of the Searle worldwide management team. Previously, Mr. Ford has experience in managing affiliates in India, Pakistan, Middle East and Africa and was general manager of its United Kingdom operations. Mr. Ford has more than 30 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry and helped launch Celebrex, which became a blockbuster drug. He has lived and worked in Switzerland, United States and United Kingdom, where he currently resides. He served as a member of the board of directors of Slate until Slate’s acquisition in December 2011.

Braxton Goodrich

Braxton is managing director of Timberline Investments, a family office investment vehicle focused on passive investments in the healthcare, real estate and finance industries. Previously, he was employed in the treasury and finance division of BE&K, a large engineering and construction firm headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Prior to BE&K, Braxton was employed by Charter Business Network. He has an MBA from The George Washington University and a B.A. from Texas Christian University. Braxton served as a member of the board of directors of Slate until Slate’s acquisition in December 2011.

Trygve Mikkelsen

Trygve is the founder and General Partner of T+T Holdings, LLC, a private investment company focused on private equity and hedge fund investments. Prior to founding T+T Holdings, he was a Managing Director with Citigroup (2004 to 2007), Deutsche Bank (1999 to 2002) and Credit Suisse First Boston (1987 to 1999). Trygve’s specialty as an investment banker was mergers and acquisitions advisory, primarily with a focus on health care. He has completed transactions with an aggregate value over $50 billion, representing a diverse group of companies in the health care, consumer products and industrials sectors. Mr. Mikkelsen graduated cum laude with a B.S. from University of Utah, where he was an All-American skier, and received an MBA with Honors from Columbia University. He served as a member of the board of directors of Slate until Slate’s acquisition in December 2011.

 
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