Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. - Our People

Company Officers

Christy L. Shaffer, Ph.D.
President & Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Shaffer is a seasoned pharmaceutical executive and Ph.D. scientist with extensive experience in directing complex drug development processes for innovative products. She joined Inspire as the first full-time employee from Burroughs Wellcome in 1995 as Director of Clinical and was appointed rapidly to VP of Development, Chief Operating Officer and, in 1998, President and Chief Executive Officer and Board member. Under Dr. Shaffer's tenure, Inspire became a publicly traded company in 2000, raising $76 million, and has completed five subsequent equity financings, raising an additional $354 million, which includes a $75 million investment by Warburg Pincus in 2007. Dr. Shaffer has received many notable awards including the YWCA Academy of Women 2007 Award in Science and Technology, the Charles & Colvard Women of Brilliant Achievement™ award, the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence in 2004 and Business Woman of the Year in NC 2003, 2004, by the Business Advisory Council in Washington, DC. Under Dr. Shaffer's leadership, Inspire was named one of The Scientist's Best Places to Work in Industry three times, one of Business North Carolina's Best Employers in North Carolina and received numerous Best Places to Work Awards for employers in Research Triangle Park. In 2008 alone, Inspire was recognized by the American Heart Association and Business Leader magazine/Rex Healthcare as one of the healthiest companies in the Triangle. Dr. Shaffer serves on the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Board and the BIO Emerging Companies Section Governing Body, the Foundation Board of Directors of the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Kresge Science Advisory Board for Meredith College, the NC School of Math and Science Foundation Board and Board of Directors for Clinipace, a privately held clinical research software company in RTP. Dr. Shaffer served as Chair of the CED, which is the oldest and largest organization of its kind in the US, and was a past Board member of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. Dr. Shaffer received a B.S. in Biology/Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Tennessee.

R. Kim Brazzell, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Ophthalmic Research and Development
Dr. Brazzell has served as our as Senior Vice President of Ophthalmic Research and Development (R&D) since August 2004. In this capacity, he oversees various aspects of preclinical and clinical R&D, provides strategic direction and expertise to project teams, assists the marketing and sales team in Phase 4 clinical trials and marketing plans and activities, and serves an important external role in further developing Inspire’s presence and depth in ophthalmology. Dr. Brazzell has 20 years of experience in the ophthalmic pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Inspire, he served as Global Head of Clinical R&D and Senior Vice President, U.S. R&D, of Novartis Ophthalmics from 2000 until 2004. He has extensive experience in the discovery and development of multiple successful ophthalmic products including Visudyne^®, Zaditor^®, Rescula® and Betoptic S^®. In addition to managing the global clinical R&D group for Novartis Ophthalmics, Dr. Brazzell built and managed the U.S.-based R&D group for Ciba Vision Ophthalmics in Duluth, Georgia, while serving as their Vice-President, R&D, and served as Associate Director, R&D, at Alcon Laboratories in Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Brazzell also has expertise in pharmacokinetics and biopharmaceutics and held positions directing groups in these areas at Alcon Laboratories and Hoffmann-La Roche, where he managed activities across several therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, pulmonary and ophthalmology. Dr. Brazzell received a B.S. in Pharmacy and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Kentucky.


Joseph K. Schachle Executive Vice President and Chief, Commercial and Corporate Operations Mr. Schachle has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief, Commercial and Corporate Operations since August 2007. Prior to that he held the position of Executive Vice President and Chief, Commercial Operations since February 2007, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales since January 2004, and as Vice President, Marketing and Sales from January 2003 until January 2004. In his current capacity, he is responsible for establishing a high-value marketing and sales infrastructure in North America to promote AzaSite^®, co-promote Restasis^® and Elestat^® and commercialize potential products from our pipeline. He is also responsible for our Human Resources team. Mr. Schachle has over 18 years experience in pharmaceutical marketing and sales, and has had responsibility for the successful launch of major new products including the marketing of GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair^®. His experience includes marketing and sales positions of significant responsibility at The Upjohn Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Inspire and MedImmune, Inc. Prior to joining Inspire, he most recently served as Director of Marketing for infectious disease products at MedImmune from April 2002 until January 2003, where he was responsible for strategic brand management and promotion of Synagis^® and Cytogam^®. From June 1998 until April 2001, Mr. Schachle was Director, Marketing for GlaxoSmithKline. Mr. Schachle originally joined Inspire in April 2001 as Vice President, Marketing and Sales. Mr. Schachle holds a B.B.A. in Marketing from James Madison University and an M.B.A. from Old Dominion University.

Joseph M. Spagnardi Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Mr. Spagnardi joined Inspire in May 2005 as our Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, and was promoted to Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary in March 2006. Prior to joining Inspire, Mr. Spagnardi spent over ten years, from August 1994 to May 2005, at GlaxoSmithKline (and its predecessor Glaxo Wellcome), most recently as Assistant General Counsel for R&D Business Development Transactions, where he structured and negotiated strategic transactions relating to the development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products, development compounds and novel research technologies. Mr. Spagnardi began his career at the law firm of Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP), where his practice focused on multi-national transactions in the M&A and Securities area. Mr. Spagnardi received a J.D. with Honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law and a B.S. in Business Administration cum laude from the University of Delaware.

Thomas R. Staab, II
Executive Vice President and CFO
Mr. Staab has served as our Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer since May 2003. He is responsible for leading the finance, information technology, investor relations, strategic planning/business development and facilities departments. Prior to Inspire, he held senior financial positions with Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company listed on the NASDAQ national exchange prior to it being acquired by Gilead Sciences, Inc. in 2003. These positions included Vice President and Treasurer and Acting Chief Financial Officer. His experience includes equity financing, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, drug commercialization, SEC reporting, treasury management and investor relations. Before joining Triangle, Mr. Staab spent eight years working for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP providing audit and business advisory services to national and multi-national corporations in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper and communications industries. He currently serves on the Board of the North Carolina Biosciences Organization and is a member of its Audit Committee. Mr. Staab is also a Board Member and Audit Committee Chairman for the Triangle Community Foundation. Mr. Staab is a Certified Public Accountant and received a B.S. in Business Administration and a Masters of Accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Benjamin R. Yerxa, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Chief, Research and Development
Dr. Yerxa has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief, Research and Development since September 2008. In his current capacity, he is responsible for overseeing all clinical and preclinical research and development programs, including product planning, statistics and data management, regulatory, manufacturing and technical operations. He previously served as our Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President, Strategic Operations from February 2007 until September 2008 and, prior to that, he held the position of Chief, Scientific Operations and Alliances from December 2005 until February 2007. Dr. Yerxa joined Inspire in August 1995 and has held several positions, including Senior Vice President, Discovery and Senior Director of Preclinical Programs. Dr. Yerxa created a novel strategic opportunity for Inspire by developing the concept of ophthalmic uses for Inspire’s core P2Y2 technology. As a Senior Research Chemist his work focused on designing and synthesizing novel P2Y receptor agonists, such as diquafosol. While in chemistry, he was the preclinical project leader for diquafosol. In 2004, Dr. Yerxa received the Southeastern Region American Chemical Society Industrial Innovation Award for discoveries related to his work with P2Y2 receptor agonists. Dr. Yerxa received the Triangle Business Journal’s “40 under 40” award, recognizing his contributions in business and leadership. He was also a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in North Carolina 2003. Prior to joining Inspire, Dr. Yerxa was a Research Scientist at Burroughs Wellcome. Dr. Yerxa also worked at Biophysica, Inc. where he synthesized radiocontrast agents. He developed scale-up procedures for the industrial production of Oxilan^®, a marketed imaging product. Dr. Yerxa received a B.A. in Chemistry from the University of California, San Diego, and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Irvine.

Page last updated: 17-Oct-2008