Michael Barbella, Managing Editor04.08.24
Femasys Inc. has welcomed a new member to its C-Suite, appointing Richard Spector as chief commercial officer (CCO). Spector has more than two decades of experience spanning a continuum of commercial stages at both public and private medical device and biopharmaceutical companies.
“I am thrilled to have Richard join the Femasys team to lead our commercialization efforts given his established record of success at public and private healthcare companies and at a crucial time for Femasys as we prepare to launch FemaSeed and our other commercially available products,” Femasys Founder/President/CEO Kathy Lee-Sepsick said. “Richard’s leadership capabilities, including building high-performing, cross functional commercial teams, along with his track record of leading successful product launches, including first-time launches across multiple markets and channels, and improving outcomes for patients and providers, will be invaluable as we become established in women’s health.”
Spector has more than 25 years of experience leading public and private biotechnology companies through various stages of commercialization. His expertise ranges from leading functional efforts in sales and marketing, key opinion leader strategy, product/brand development, and reimbursement strategy, to strategic efforts such as product planning, alliance management, cross functional team management and interfacing with investors and analysts. Most recently, Spector was CCO at Qlibrium (formally Cam-Med Inc.), a medical device company innovating on-body, wearable devices with the first electrochemical and microfluidic technology platform for therapeutic areas as such as oncology, diabetes, autoimmune, and in-vitro fertilization (IVF). At Qlibrium, Spector led sales, marketing and partner development functions from early-stage to commercial launch as well as revamped and launched all marketing materials and campaigns to drive awareness and patient flow, including campaigns with Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Boeing, and NASA.
Before his Qlibrium tenure, Spector was senior director, strategic alliances at Insulet Corporation, where he negotiated and managed more than a dozen business development deals with pharmaceutical and device companies. He also worked for OvaScience Inc. (acquired by Millendo Therapeutics Inc.) as vice president of global sales and partner development for global fertility products. In addition, Spector has held leadership positions at other women’s health companies, including NeoMatrix Inc. (acquired by Halo Health Systems), Advanced Radiation Therapy LLC (acquired by Best Medical International Inc.) and Cytyc Surgical Products LLC (acquired by Hologic Inc.).
Spector earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration and marketing from California State University in Sacramento, CA.
“I am excited to apply both my passion for women’s health as well as my skillset in commercialization to Femasys, a disruptor in this market category with FemaSeed, an accessible solution for infertility, and FemBloc, a first-of-its-kind, non-surgical, permanent birth control," Spector stated. "I look forward to building a commercial team and enabling accessibility of Femasys’ solutions to the healthcare industry to improve women’s health.”
Concurrent with his appointment, Femasys has granted Spector an option to purchase 100,000 shares of company stock. The stock option will vest as to 25% of the shares underlying the stock option on Spector's first (corporate) anniversary and the remaining shares vesting 25% annually over the following three years.
Femasys is a biomedical company focused on meeting significant unmet needs for women worldwide with in-office, accessible solutions, including a late-clinical stage product candidate and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared therapeutic and diagnostic products. Femasys’ FemBloc permanent birth control in late-stage clinical development is the first and only non-surgical, in-office, permanent birth control method intended to be a safer option for women at substantially less cost than the long-standing surgical alternative. Femasys’ FemaSeed Intratubal Insemination, an innovative infertility treatment designed to deliver sperm directly where conception occurs, is now FDA-cleared and has received regulatory approval in Canada. The company has developed diagnostic products that are complementary for which it has achieved regulatory approvals to market in the United States, Canada, and other ex-U.S. territories, and which are commercial-ready due to its in-house manufacturing capabilities. The company’s diagnostic products include FemVue for fallopian tube assessment by ultrasound, which can be used in conjunction with FemCath, an intrauterine catheter for selective fallopian tube evaluation, and FemCerv, an endocervical tissue sampler for cervical cancer diagnosis.
“I am thrilled to have Richard join the Femasys team to lead our commercialization efforts given his established record of success at public and private healthcare companies and at a crucial time for Femasys as we prepare to launch FemaSeed and our other commercially available products,” Femasys Founder/President/CEO Kathy Lee-Sepsick said. “Richard’s leadership capabilities, including building high-performing, cross functional commercial teams, along with his track record of leading successful product launches, including first-time launches across multiple markets and channels, and improving outcomes for patients and providers, will be invaluable as we become established in women’s health.”
Spector has more than 25 years of experience leading public and private biotechnology companies through various stages of commercialization. His expertise ranges from leading functional efforts in sales and marketing, key opinion leader strategy, product/brand development, and reimbursement strategy, to strategic efforts such as product planning, alliance management, cross functional team management and interfacing with investors and analysts. Most recently, Spector was CCO at Qlibrium (formally Cam-Med Inc.), a medical device company innovating on-body, wearable devices with the first electrochemical and microfluidic technology platform for therapeutic areas as such as oncology, diabetes, autoimmune, and in-vitro fertilization (IVF). At Qlibrium, Spector led sales, marketing and partner development functions from early-stage to commercial launch as well as revamped and launched all marketing materials and campaigns to drive awareness and patient flow, including campaigns with Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Boeing, and NASA.
Before his Qlibrium tenure, Spector was senior director, strategic alliances at Insulet Corporation, where he negotiated and managed more than a dozen business development deals with pharmaceutical and device companies. He also worked for OvaScience Inc. (acquired by Millendo Therapeutics Inc.) as vice president of global sales and partner development for global fertility products. In addition, Spector has held leadership positions at other women’s health companies, including NeoMatrix Inc. (acquired by Halo Health Systems), Advanced Radiation Therapy LLC (acquired by Best Medical International Inc.) and Cytyc Surgical Products LLC (acquired by Hologic Inc.).
Spector earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration and marketing from California State University in Sacramento, CA.
“I am excited to apply both my passion for women’s health as well as my skillset in commercialization to Femasys, a disruptor in this market category with FemaSeed, an accessible solution for infertility, and FemBloc, a first-of-its-kind, non-surgical, permanent birth control," Spector stated. "I look forward to building a commercial team and enabling accessibility of Femasys’ solutions to the healthcare industry to improve women’s health.”
Concurrent with his appointment, Femasys has granted Spector an option to purchase 100,000 shares of company stock. The stock option will vest as to 25% of the shares underlying the stock option on Spector's first (corporate) anniversary and the remaining shares vesting 25% annually over the following three years.
Femasys is a biomedical company focused on meeting significant unmet needs for women worldwide with in-office, accessible solutions, including a late-clinical stage product candidate and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared therapeutic and diagnostic products. Femasys’ FemBloc permanent birth control in late-stage clinical development is the first and only non-surgical, in-office, permanent birth control method intended to be a safer option for women at substantially less cost than the long-standing surgical alternative. Femasys’ FemaSeed Intratubal Insemination, an innovative infertility treatment designed to deliver sperm directly where conception occurs, is now FDA-cleared and has received regulatory approval in Canada. The company has developed diagnostic products that are complementary for which it has achieved regulatory approvals to market in the United States, Canada, and other ex-U.S. territories, and which are commercial-ready due to its in-house manufacturing capabilities. The company’s diagnostic products include FemVue for fallopian tube assessment by ultrasound, which can be used in conjunction with FemCath, an intrauterine catheter for selective fallopian tube evaluation, and FemCerv, an endocervical tissue sampler for cervical cancer diagnosis.