Spruce Biosciences, Inc. announced the appointment of Percival Barretto-Ko to the company's Board of Directors. Concurrently, Dina Chaya, Ph.D., has stepped down from the Board of Directors. Mr. Barretto-Ko is a life sciences industry veteran with over 20 years of commercial expertise and biopharmaceutical experience across various therapeutic focuses.

Most recently, he has served as President and Chief Executive Officer at Plexium, Inc. Prior to joining Plexium, Mr. Barretto-Ko served in numerous roles at Astellas Pharma Inc., including the Chief Business Officer and President of Astellas Pharma US, from 2005 to 2021. Prior to joining Astellas, Mr. Barretto-Ko served in increasingly senior roles at Roche UK and US from 2001 to 2005. Mr. Barretto-Ko earned his B.S. in Biological Sciences and Chemistry with Honors from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Yale University.

In addition, he served as a Sloan Fellow for Innovation and Global Leadership at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he was awarded an M.S. degree in Management. Mr. Barretto-Ko is a board member of Alessa Therapeutics, Inc., a pharmaceutical company, and Americares, a health-focused relief and development organization that serves people affected by poverty or disaster with life-changing medicine and health programs.