Leadership — Sparrow Pharmaceuticals

LEADERSHIP

A proven track record in pharmaceutical innovation.

Our leadership team is headed by disruptive thinkers, problem-solvers, and entrepreneurs with decades of experience in drug R&D across pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.

Our core values.

Respect

We treat all with dignity and an open mind to our differences.

Tenacity

We are relentless in the pursuit of our goals – never giving in to defeat.

Compassion

We care deeply about our fellow human beings.

Creativity

We synthesize existing knowledge and new ideas into novel solutions.

Alacrity

We act with speed, efficiency, and good spirit in everything we do.

Management Team

Robert Jacks

President & Chief Executive Officer

Robert has 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. He has founded or co-founded multiple companies and raised more than $300 million. Previously, Robert was the President & CEO of Indalo Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapeutics for serious fibrotic diseases, and President, CFO, and Co-Founder of Symbiomix Therapeutics, which was sold after achieving NDA approval for Solosec®. Robert also previously held the positions of Head of Corporate Development for Tobira Therapeutics, Head of Business Development for ACT Biotech, and Entrepreneur-in-Residence for OrbiMed Advisors.

Robert began his pharmaceutical industry career in finance and product development at Pfizer, where he last worked as the Director of Business Development for Oncology and Infectious Diseases. Robert earned an MBA from Columbia Business School, an MSE in Civil Engineering from Stanford University, and a BSE in Civil Engineering from Duke University. When not solving intractable healthcare problems, Robert spends as much time as possible with his two daughters.

David Katz

Chief Scientific Officer

Prior to founding Sparrow, David was a pharmaceutical R&D leader at Abbott and AbbVie, where he led clinical development and drug discovery teams and was a personalized medicine pioneer. David is dedicated to mentorship of the next generation of life sciences entrepreneurs, currently as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Oregon Health & Science University. He held post-doctoral fellowships in immunology at Universities of Chicago and Michigan, earned MPhil and PhD degrees in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University, and is an alumnus of Pomona College (BA, Chemistry).

David has published over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers. In his copious spare time, he is actively involved in new play development and is a glass artist.

Frank Czerwiec

Chief Medical Officer

Frank has been a medical researcher for over 30 years; motivated to find solutions for patients with unmet medical needs. Working in industry for the past 24 years, as Chief Medical Officer of Goldfinch Bio he recently helped build the Clinical Development, Regulatory and Medical Affairs groups supporting the launch of several early phase clinical programs. With progressively increasing responsibilities, culminating as VP of Clinical Development at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Frank’s team was instrumental in securing tolvaptan’s global approvals for the treatment of hyponatremia (Samsca®) and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (Jinarc/Jynarque®).

Frank graduated from the University of Miami School of Medicine’s Combined Clinician Scientist program with both a PhD in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and an MD followed by an American Board of Internal Medicine Research Pathway residency. He completed NIH-NICHD/NIDDK Adult Endocrinology Fellowship where he was first exposed to formal clinical investigation serving patients having rare medical conditions like congenital adrenal hyperplasia, hypercalcuric hypoparathyroidism, Cushing disease/syndrome and McCune-Albright syndrome. There he also opened an investigator-initiated IND for dihydrotestosterone treatment of male pseudohermaphroiditism (5-alpha reductase deficiency). After the NIH, Frank’s focus shifted to endocrine and cardio-renal conditions, where he sought innovative solutions to clinical problems involving patients and families wherever possible.

In his spare, spare time, Frank enjoys sailing, scuba diving, and hiking in the nearest National parks with his family and two dogs.

Dora Ferrari

Senior Vice President, Development Operations

Ms. Ferrari is a veteran biotech executive with over 20 years of experience leading end-to-end drug development across oncology and rare disease. Her expertise spans clinical operations, program management, and cross-functional development strategy from pre-IND through pivotal clinical programs.

Most recently, she served as Vice President of Clinical Operations at Curis, where she was the Development Champion for the company’s lead asset, emaveusertib. Before that, she held the role of Vice President of Clinical Development and Program Management at Aileron Therapeutics, overseeing both clinical operations and program strategy.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Ferrari spent over a decade at ArQule, holding roles of increasing responsibility within clinical operations and clinical development across oncology and rare disease. While there, she led multiple programs from pre-IND through late stage clinical development and played a key role in their BTK program, which contributed to ArQule’s acquisition by Merck.

Her previous experience also includes roles at Ziopharm Oncology and Epix Pharmaceuticals, where she contributed to the successful FDA approval of Vasovist.

Ms. Ferrari holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Andre Richer

Vice President, Program Management

Andre brings nearly three decades of experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology program management to Sparrow. His career began at Genzyme Corporation, where he dedicated 20 years to advancing treatments for Rare Diseases. Initially focused on biologics manufacturing, Andre shifted into program management, taking on diverse roles in Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls, Life Cycle Management, Supply Chain, Biologics Development, and Medical Affairs. After Genzyme, Andre spent seven years at Minerva Neurosciences, where he provided oversight of their pivotal study and led the New Drug Application assembly and filing for their lead program which sought to find treatment for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

A Rhode Island native, Andre earned a BS in Biology from Providence College and an MBA from Bryant University. Outside of work, he enjoys spending quality time, preferably on a warm beach, with his wife and three children.

Jamie MacPherson

Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs & Quality Assurance

Jamie has 20 years of experience as a Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance professional in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry across a wide variety of therapeutic areas, including Neurology, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Reproductive Health, and Nephrology. She specializes in bringing innovative treatments to patients with serious and rare diseases to address unmet medical needs. Throughout her career, she has provided strategic advice in the development or commercialization 20 products at Akcea Therapeutics, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Genzyme Corporation, EMD Serono, Inc, and Repligen Corporation.

Jamie earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University. In her spare time, Jamie enjoys spending time with her family, skiing and mountain biking, and community service.