Company: SPRB
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000950170-25-059288
Chunk: 19

Company: SPRUCE BIOSCIENCES, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 19
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 Medical Officer of MBX from November 2023 to July 2024. From October 2018 to January 2021, Dr. Ways served as Chief Medical Officer of Nuvelution Pharma, Inc. (“Nuvelution”), a biopharmaceutical company. Prior to joining Nuvelution, Dr. Ways served as Development Head of Cardiovascular and Metabolism at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Janssen”), a biopharmaceutical company. Prior to joining Janssen, Dr. Ways served in leadership capacities at several life sciences companies, including BioStratum Incorporated as Vice President and Chief Development Officer, Aventis, Inc. as Senior Global Medical Leader and Project Team Leader and Lilly Research Laboratories as a Research Fellow with responsibilities for the preclinical and clinical development for agents treating the chronic complications of diabetes. Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Ways served as Director of the Diabetes Center, Vice Chairman for the Department of Internal Medicine, Endocrinology Section Head and Professor of Medicine at East Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Ways has authored more than one hundred publications in the fields of diabetes and cancer. Dr. Ways earned his M.D. with honors and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of North Carolina and graduated with a B.A. magna cum laude from Bridgewater College.

The Board and Nominating Committee believes that Dr. Ways’ significant experience in leadership roles with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies qualifies him to serve on the Board.

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As required under the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) listing rules, a majority of the members of a listed company’s board of directors must qualify as “independent,” as affirmatively determined by the board of directors. The Board consults with the Company’s counsel to ensure that the Board’s determinations are consistent with relevant securities and other laws and regulations regarding the definition of “independent,” including those set forth in the Nasdaq listing rules, as in effect from time to time.

Consistent with these considerations, after review of all relevant identified transactions or relationships between each director, or any of his or her family members, and the Company, its senior management and its independent auditors, the Board has affirmatively determined that all of the directors who served on our board in 2024, except for Dr. Szwarcberg, Dr. Ways and Mr. Grey, are independent directors within the meaning of the applicable Nasdaq listing rules. Prior to his service as Interim