Board of Directors

Mr. Adams has served as the Chairman of the AcelRx board of directors since February 2013. In addition, Mr. Adams has served as chairman of the board of directors of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. since December 2018. From January 2020 to November 2023, Mr. Adams served as chairman of the board of directors of Impel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and from May 2020 to November 2023, he also served as chief executive officer. Previously, Mr. Adams served as chief executive officer of Aralez Pharmaceuticals, after the merger between Pozen, Inc. and Tribute Pharmaceuticals Canada, Inc. from February 2016 to January 2019 and served as a member of the board of directors from February 2016 to April 2019. Prior to that, from May 2015 to January 2016, Mr. Adams served as chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Pozen, Inc. From December 2011 until January 2015, Mr. Adams served as chief executive officer and president of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc. until it was acquired by Endo International plc. in February 2015. Prior to joining Auxilium, from September 2011 until November 2011, Mr. Adams served as chairman and chief executive officer of Neurologix, a company focused on development of multiple innovative gene therapy development programs. Before Neurologix, Mr. Adams served as president and chief executive officer of Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he oversaw the commercialization and development of prescription pharmaceutical products and led the company through a strategic acquisition by global pharmaceutical leader Merck & Co., Inc. in May 2011. Prior to Inspire, Mr. Adams served as president and chief executive officer of Sepracor Inc. from December 2006 until February 2010. Under his leadership, Sepracor conducted multiple strategic corporate development activities, including the in-licensing of seven products and out-licensing deals with two major pharmaceutical companies, prior to its acquisition by Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. Prior to joining Sepracor, Mr. Adams was president and chief executive officer of Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2002 until the acquisition of the company by Abbott Laboratories in December 2006. During his tenure he led the transformation of Kos into a fully integrated and profitable pharmaceutical company with annual revenues approaching $1 billion. Mr. Adams graduated from the Royal Institute of Chemistry at Salford University in the UK.

Dr. Afable has served as a director on the AcelRx board since 2013. Dr. Afable has served as trustee of Chapman University since March 2017, of Providence St. Joseph Health since January 2018, and he is the immediate past chair of the California Hospital Association. From July 2016 through December 2017, Dr. Afable has served as executive vice president and chief executive, Southern California, for Providence St. Joseph Health. From February 2013 to July 2016, Dr. Afable served as the chief executive officer of Covenant Health Network, based in Irvine, California, a non-profit healthcare delivery system formed through the affiliation of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and St. Joseph Health System. Prior to Covenant Health Network, Dr. Afable served as the president and chief executive of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian from 2005 to 2013. Prior to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Dr. Afable served as the chief medical officer of Catholic Health East from 1999 to 2005. He earned a Bachelor of Science in biology, a medical degree from Loyola University of Chicago, and a Master of Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Mr. Angotti brings over two decades of experience leading executive and commercial teams at public and private life sciences companies, most recently as CEO of XenoPort, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of treatments for neuropathic pain and other neurological disorders. During his tenure at XenoPort, Mr. Angotti was involved in the re-acquisition of Horizant from GSK and implemented a successful re-branding and re-launch strategy leading to XenoPort's acquisition by Arbor Pharmaceuticals, LLC in 2016. Previous to joining XenoPort, Mr. Angotti held senior sales and marketing positions at Reliant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2001 – 2008. In his role as senior vice president of sales and marketing at Reliant, Mr. Angotti was integrally involved in the company's M&A discussions that concluded with Reliant's acquisition by GSK in 2007. Mr. Angotti began his career in the life sciences industry at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., where he worked from 1991 – 2001 in sales and operations positions of increasing responsibility. Mr. Angotti earned a Bachelor of Science with a concentration in business management from Cornell University in 1990 and a Master of Business Administration with honors in 2000 from Columbia University.

Ms. Broadfoot currently serves as the chief financial officer of aTyr Pharma, Inc., a position she has held since July 2018. From January 2017 to July 2018, Ms. Broadfoot served as chief financial officer of Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Emerald Health Bioceuticals Inc., where she was responsible for establishing operations for the U.S.-based pharmaceutical and bioceutical entities as well as the establishment of operations, corporate governance, finance and accounting and investor relations functions, among others. Prior to Emerald Health, Ms. Broadfoot served as vice president, U.S. corporate controller at GW Pharmaceuticals, from May 2016 to January 2017. While at GW Pharmaceuticals, her responsibilities included establishing U.S. commercial operations and implementing U.S. public company financial and accounting standards in connection with the transfer of corporate operations from the U.K. to the U.S. Prior to joining GW Pharmaceuticals, Ms. Broadfoot served as chief financial officer of Vical Inc., from October 2004 to March 2013, where she had oversight of finance, investor relations, manufacturing, information technology, human resources, and business development. Ms. Broadfoot holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration and accounting from San Diego State University and is a certified public accountant.

Ms. Bozilenko has served as our director since March 2021. Ms. Bozilenko has over 30 years of investment banking and other healthcare industry experience, including raising more than $30 billion in capital and executing numerous M&A transactions. Since June 2021, Ms. Bozilenko has served as president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors at Biothea Pharma, Inc. and since February 2021, she has served as a strategic advisor to William Blair & Company, a firm she joined in 2010 as head of biotech & pharma and managing director. Prior to that, she worked at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. as a senior managing director in the healthcare group, at Bank of America Securities as a managing director and head of biotechnology, and at Vector Securities International, where she was a partner. Ms. Bozilenko was also a principal at Kidd & Company, a private-equity firm. She received her Bachelor of Arts in molecular biology and Master of Arts in economic history from the University of Chicago.

Dr. Hoffman has served as a director on the AcelRx board since February 2010. Dr. Hoffman served as chief executive officer and director of Aerpio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., from December 2017 to October 2019. Prior to that, Dr. Hoffman had been a senior advisor to PDL BioPharma, Inc. beginning in February 2014. Prior to that, he served as a managing director at Skyline Ventures, a venture capital firm, from May 2007 until February 2014. From January 2003 to March 2007, Dr. Hoffman was a general partner at TVM Capital, a venture capital firm. From 1994 to 2012, Dr. Hoffman served as president, chief executive officer and a director of Allos Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company; and served as chairman of the board of directors from 2002 until its acquisition by Spectrum Pharmaceuticals in 2012. From 1990 to 1994, Dr. Hoffman completed a fellowship in clinical oncology and a residency/fellowship in dermatology, both at the University of Colorado. Dr. Hoffman was the scientific founder of Somatogen Inc., a biotechnology company that was acquired in 1998 by Baxter International, Inc., a global medical products and services company, where he held the position of vice president of science and technology from 1987 until 1990.Dr. Hoffman currently serves on the board of directors of BYOMass Therapeutics, Inc., and Implicit Bioscience, Ltd. Dr. Hoffman holds a doctorate in bio-organic chemistry from Northwestern University and a medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Dr. Palmer has served as a director on the AcelRx board and the Company’s chief medical officer since she co-founded the company in July 2005. Dr. Palmer gained extensive experience in the treatment of pain during her tenure as the director of the UCSF Pain Center for Advanced Research and Education (PainCARE) from 2005 to 2009, during which time the American Pain Society named the UCSF Pain Management Center and PainCARE jointly as one of only six centers of excellence nationwide. Prior to PainCARE, from 1999 to 2005, she was medical director of the UCSF Pain Management Center, which uses a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to treat patients with various stages and types of complex acute and chronic pain. From 1996 to 1999, Dr. Palmer worked as a faculty member at UCSF, where she conducted research on basic science mechanisms of pain transmission in her NIH-funded laboratory. Dr. Palmer has previously been a consultant to Omeros Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company developing small-molecule and protein therapeutics aimed at improving pain management and clinical outcomes of patients undergoing a wide range of surgical and medical procedures she co-founded in 1994. Dr. Palmer received a medical degree and a doctorate in neuroscience at Stanford University, and continued on to the University of California, San Francisco for her anesthesia residency. She has an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering. Dr. Palmer is certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine by the American Board of Anesthesiology.

Mr. Rosen has served on the AcelRx board since 2008 and as chief executive officer from 2015-17. Mr. Rosen brings more than 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology leadership and strategy to AcelRx. He has served as a lecturer at Stanford University in Chemical Engineering since 2008 and in Management since 2011. Mr. Rosen served as interim president and chief executive officer of Pearl Therapeutics, Inc., from June 2010 to March 2011. Prior to that, he was vice president, commercial strategy at Gilead Sciences, Inc. from 2004 to 2008, where his responsibilities included strategic marketing, global brand management, health economics, competitive intelligence, market research and Gilead's overall portfolio and business planning. Prior to joining Gilead, Mr. Rosen was president of ALZA Corporation where he was responsible for all aspects of managing ALZA as an independent 1000-person operating company within the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies. Previously at ALZA as vice president, product development, he was responsible for product development activities, portfolio management and corporate and new product planning. Mr. Rosen holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University, a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Wan has served as a director on the AcelRx board since August 2006. Mr. Wan is a founding managing director of Causeway Media Partners. Prior to Causeway, he was a founding general partner of Three Arch Partners, a venture capital firm. Prior to co-founding Three Arch Partners in 1993, Mr. Wan was a general partner at Brentwood Associates, a private equity firm. Mr. Wan holds a Bachelor of Science in engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Yale University and a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.