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Management Team

At AcelRx, our success is driven by our people. We have assembled an experienced team of senior leaders across a number of disciplines, bringing our vision to life.

Thomas A. Schreck, Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder
Tom co-founded AcelRx in 2005.  Prior to AcelRx he served as founding President, and then Chief Financial Officer and Director of DURECT Corporation, an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company he co-founded in 1998. During his tenure there he raised approximately $200 million to launch and build DURECT into a NASDAQ listed company with a strong financial position and a robust, diversified pipeline. Prior to founding DURECT, Tom held various investment banking positions in the San Francisco Bay area and London, including Montgomery Securities and Manufacturers Hanover Limited. Tom is a graduate of Menlo School and Williams College.
Pamela P. Palmer, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer & Co-Founder
In addition to her role as the CMO for AcelRx, Dr. Palmer is also a Professor of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care at the University of California, San Francisco and Director of UCSF PainCARE - Center for Advanced Research and Education. Dr. Palmer specializes clinically in treating acute and chronic pain and also is a leader in opioid and serotonin receptor research, as well as peripheral pain and inflammation mechanisms. Dr. Palmer received her MD from Stanford University and her PhD from the Stanford Department of Neuroscience. Dr. Palmer is also a co-founder of Omeros Medical Systems, Inc. and remains involved as a consultant in the company’s ongoing research efforts.
Larry G. Hamel, Chief Development Officer
Larry brings 28 years of experience in pharmaceutical development with primary focus on development of oral drug delivery systems. Since 1986, Larry has personally managed or directed 43 IND submissions and 8 new NDA submissions from inception through commercialization. He brings a thorough understanding of the Regulatory and Development processes in both the US and EU. During his tenure at ALZA, Larry brought a number of new technologies to commercial readiness, including Push-Stick and patterned delivery designs. Larry holds a BS in Biology from the University of Michigan.		  
Anil Dasu, Chief Engineering Officer
Anil joined AcelRx in September 2007 from Anesiva Inc., where he most recently served as Vice President of Medical Device Engineering.  At Anesiva, Anil was responsible for all medical device development leading to a New Drug Application (NDA) approval for Zingo ™, a combination drug-device product indicated for the reduction of pain associated with needlesticks and cannula placements in pediatric patients. Prior to Anesiva, Anil was Vice President for Manufacturing and Device Development at AlgoRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company developing products to treat pain. At AlgoRx, Anil had broad responsibility for clinical supplies manufacturing, facilities, supply chain management as well as device development. Prior to AlgoRx, Anil was with PowderJect Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Vice President of Manufacturing and Process Development. Previously, Anil served in various capacities in process development at Metrika, Inc. and Cygnus, Inc. He holds a BE degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mangalore, India and MS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tulsa and is a member of AAMI.
Carter J. King, Vice President, Finance
Carter joined AcelRx in early 2006 as one of the first employees. Carter brings over 15 years of finance and operations experience in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and healthcare services. Immediately prior to AcelRx Carter led the strategic planning and portfolio management efforts at ALZA Corporation, a Johnson & Johnson company. Prior to ALZA, Carter held a number of positions at Coulter Pharmaceutical/Corixa Corporation, ultimately as Director of Finance where he was responsible for finance, accounting and operations as well as financial management of the corporate partnership with GlaxoSmithKline. While at Coulter/Corixa, Carter also helped develop the systems and infrastructure necessary to launch the company’s first product, Bexxar® which was subsequently acquired by GSK. Carter began his career at GATX Capital providing finance and accounting support across a broad range of leasing and capital investments. He holds a BA in Business Economics from UC Santa Barbara and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.
Stelios T. Tzannis, DiplEng, MS, PhD, Vice President, Pharmaceutical R&D
Stelios brings over 15 years of experience in product R&D in oral, transdermal, inhalation, injectable and implantable delivery of small molecules and biopharmaceutics. Recently, as Vice President of R&D at iMEDD, Inc., Stelios led multifunctional teams in development of nanotechnology-based implantable products for the treatment of hepatitis, schizophrenia and growth deficiency. Prior to that, Stelios spent 8 years at Nektar Therapeutics (formerly Inhale Therapeutic Systems) as Director of R&D, spearheading research and development of Nektar technologies and inhalation pipeline products. In addition, he was responsible for development of Nektar’s technology strategy, which led to a number of successful acquisitions. Prior to joining Nektar, Stelios spent more than 4 years at ALZA, on the development of Duros/Viadur as well as leading formulation R&D of injectable, implantable and transdermal systems for biomolecule delivery. He holds DiplEng, MS & PhD degrees in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, with numerous publications and lectures in the field of drug delivery.

Linda Judge, Vice President, Intellectual Property
Linda brings over 15 years of experience in intellectual property law practice covering all aspects of patent matters, and the drafting and negotiating of license, development, clinical and related transactional agreements in both the law firm and in-house setting. Linda most recently was a partner in the Intellectual Property law practice of DLA Piper US LLP and prior to that was Director of Intellectual Property at Cell Genesys, Inc., a cancer therapeutics company. She has worked with small and large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as well as with academic institutions. Linda has experience in the fields of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and related biological and chemical systems. Linda also brings over 10 years scientific experience in the laboratory setting as both a bench scientist and in a supervisory capacity. Linda has a J.D. from Santa Clara University, and an M.S. in Environmental Chemistry. She is admitted to practice law in California and is a registered Patent Attorney before the US Patent & Trademark Office.