ARS Pharmaceuticals Appoints Eric Karas as Chief Commercial Officer and Kathleen Scott as Chief Financial Officer

Appointments Further Strengthen Leadership Team to Support Launch Preparations for neffy™ (epinephrine nasal spray)

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to empowering at-risk patients and caregivers to better protect themselves from severe allergic reactions that could lead to anaphylaxis, today announced the expansion of its executive leadership team with the appointments of industry veterans, Eric Karas as chief commercial officer and Kathleen (Kathy) Scott as chief financial officer.

“Eric and Kathy join ARS at a critical time, as we are in the process of defining our commercial strategy and pre-launch activities for neffy in preparation of a potential approval next year,” said Richard Lowenthal, founder, chief executive officer and president of ARS. “Eric’s breadth of commercialization experience, particularly related to the highly successful launch of NARCAN^® and its significant commercial success converting and expanding the naloxone injection market, make him an invaluable addition to our team. His experience launching an intranasal product is directly complementary to neffy, a small, needle-free, easy-to-use solution. neffy has the potential to be the first intranasal delivery option for epinephrine with the goal of disrupting the injectables market in an area of high unmet need. Further, Kathy brings with her a deep background across finance, corporate strategy and healthcare investing, which will be essential for leading our financial operations as a commercial-stage organization. We are delighted to welcome them to the team, further strengthening our foundation for execution today and success in the future.”

Eric Karas, chief commercial officer, is a recognized commercial leader in the biopharmaceutical industry with more than 25 years of sales, marketing, market access and strategic planning experience across multiple specialty product launches. He was most recently vice president & general manager of commercial, North America at Emergent BioSolutions. Mr. Karas also led commercial initiatives for NARCAN^® Nasal Spray at Adapt Pharmaceutical, which was acquired by Emergent in 2018. Before Adapt Pharmaceutical, Mr. Karas was credited with being at the forefront of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals’ growth during his eight-year tenure and overseeing all global commercial objectives related to its urology portfolio. He also led the launch readiness planning and go-to-market strategy for the launch of XIAFLEX^® for Peyronie’s disease. Auxilium was acquired in 2015 by Endo Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Karas has also held cross-functional roles in government affairs, public relations, patient advocacy and sales leadership roles at Astellas, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck. Industry associations have recognized him for numerous disease awareness and branded campaigns targeting HCPs and consumers. Mr. Karas received his MBA in integrated management from Michigan State University, Broad School of Management, and a B.S. in accounting from Rutgers University.​

Kathy Scott, chief financial officer, brings over 30 years of experience in accounting, auditing, financings and mergers and acquisitions. Ms. Scott was previously the chief financial officer for various life science companies, including Neurana Pharmaceuticals, Recros Medica, Adigica Health, Clarify Medical, Oncternal Therapeutics, MDRejuvena and BioSurplus. Previously, Ms. Scott was a partner at RA Capital Advisors, a San Diego private investment bank providing financial advisory services. She spent over 15 years with RA Capital Advisors, completing mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and restructurings for a broad range of corporate clients. Ms. Scott started her career as an auditor in Arthur Andersen’s San Diego office, focusing on both public and private clients. Ms. Scott serves on the boards of directors of Dermata Therapeutics, the YMCA of San Diego County and Corporate Directors Forum, and previously served as a member of the board of Conatus Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Scott holds a bachelor’s degree in economics/business from the University of California, Los Angeles and is a CPA and CFA charter holder.

About ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

ARS Pharmaceuticals is dedicated to empowering at-risk patients and caregivers to better protect themselves from severe allergic reactions that could lead to anaphylaxis. The Company is developing neffy™ (ARS-1), an intranasal epinephrine product in clinical development for patients and their caregivers with type 1 allergic reactions including food, medications and insect bites that could lead to life-threatening anaphylaxis. For more, visit www.ars-pharma.com.

Media Contact:
Caroline Cunningham
Caroline.Cunningham@porternovelli.com
(203) 969-4308

Investor Contact:
Monique Allaire
THRUST Strategic Communications
monique@thrustsc.com