SAN DIEGO – ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRY) announced Monday that co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Richard Lowenthal stepped down from his position effective July 6, 2026, according to a press release statement.
The Board of Directors appointed Donn Casale, who previously served as President, as CEO and Director effective today. Lowenthal co-founded the biopharmaceutical company in 2015. The leadership transition comes as the company trades at $8.19 per share with a market capitalization of $820 million, though the stock has declined 51% over the past year. According to InvestingPro data, the company remains unprofitable with revenue of $99 million in the last twelve months.
Casale brings over 25 years of biopharmaceutical business and commercial leadership experience. He previously served as Chief Commercial Officer at Dynavax Technologies, where he built the U.S. commercial infrastructure for the hepatitis B vaccine HEPLISAV-B. The product grew from launch to more than $300 million in annualized revenue and over 50% U.S. market share before Sanofi’s $2.2 billion acquisition of Dynavax.
Before Dynavax, Casale held leadership positions at Depomed in marketing and sales operations. He spent 14 years at Merck in roles across sales, marketing, and corporate strategy, contributing to launches of vaccines including ZOSTAVAX, GARDASIL, ROTATEQ, and PROQUAD.
Pratik Shah, chairman of the Board of Directors, stated that Lowenthal was integral to guiding the company from development to establishing neffy as a treatment for adults and children with Type 1 allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis.
ARS Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company that commercializes neffy, an epinephrine nasal spray indicated in the U.S. for emergency treatment of Type I allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, in adult patients and pediatric patients who weigh 33 lbs. or greater. The product is also approved in the EU and China under different trade names. InvestingPro analysis suggests the stock appears undervalued at current levels, with analysts setting price targets between $24 and $32. While the company is quickly burning through cash, it maintains liquid assets that exceed short-term obligations. For deeper insights, investors can access a comprehensive Pro Research Report covering SPRY and 1,400+ other US equities.
Source: https://www.investing.com/news/company-news/ars-pharmaceuticals-names-donn-casale-as-new-ceo-93CH-4780148