Board of Directors

Mr. King has served as Achieve’s Executive Chair since August 2024 and as a director since March 2023. Mr. King brings a wealth of knowledge from 40+ years of experience in biopharma leadership positions ranging from large to development-stage companies. He has built, operated and sold multiple public specialty pharmaceutical businesses. Mr. King also serves on the boards of Concentric Analgesics, Inc., and Kinaset Therapeutics, Inc., both clinical-stage, privately held biopharmaceutical companies. Previously, Mr. King served on the board of VIVUS, Inc., a publicly traded pharmaceutical company, from May 2017 to December 2020, acting as interim CEO from December 2017 to April 2018 and interim President from April to May 2018. He was President, CEO, and a board member of Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from June 2003 to August 2016, when it was acquired by Grupo Ferrer, also serving as CFO and Chief Accounting Officer from October 2015 to August 2016. Prior to this, he was President, CEO, and a board member of Cognetix, Inc., a private biopharmaceutical company, from September 2002 to April 2003. At Anesta Corporation, another publicly traded pharmaceutical company, he held various senior roles, including President and COO (1995-1997) and President and CEO (1997-2000), and serving on the board until its acquisition by Cephalon, Inc. in October 2000. Mr. King received a B.A. in chemistry from McPherson College and an M.B.A. from the University of Kansas Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Stewart is a co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Achieve. He is also a director on the Achieve Board of Directors and previously served as Chairman. Mr. Stewart is also a founder and a director of Ricanto Limited, a pharmaceutical asset optimization company, since 2009. Mr. Stewart has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Renown Pharma Limited, a central nervous system company focused on Parkinson’s disease, since 2016. Prior to Achieve, Mr. Stewart was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Huxley Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a single-purpose central nervous system company, during 2009, prior to Huxley Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s acquisition by BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. Mr. Stewart was Chief Executive Officer of Brabant Pharma Limited, a single-purpose central nervous system company, from 2013 to 2014 prior to Brabant Pharma’s acquisition by Zogenix Inc. He was a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Amarin Corporation plc, a central nervous system company focused on Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease, from 2000 to 2007. Mr. Stewart was a co-founder and Chief Financial Officer, and later Chief Business Officer, of SkyePharma plc, a drug delivery company specializing in controlled release formulations, and held such positions from 1995 to 1998. Mr. Stewart holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Bath.

Dr Jacobs is an experienced executive in drug development with expertise in several indications and over 30 years’ experience in Biotechnology/Pharmaceutical industry. Dr Jacobs has achieved regulatory success in several product approvals. Dr. Jacobs currently serves on the Board of Directors of Achieve Life Sciences, Inc., Pacylex Pharmaceuticals Inc., and HiberCell Inc. Prior to joining Achieve Life Sciences as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer in 2017, Dr. Jacobs served as OncoGenex’s Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer since August 2008, and had been Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of OncoGenex Technologies Inc. from September 2005 to August 2008. From 1999 to July 2005, Dr. Jacobs served as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, Clinical Development of Corixa Corporation. Prior to 1999, Dr. Jacobs held Vice President, Clinical Research positions at two other biopharmaceutical companies. Dr. Jacobs received her Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from Montana State University, her Master’s degree and Ph.D. degree in Veterinary Pathology/Microbiology from Washington State University and an M.D. degree from the University of Washington Medical School. She has in-depth biotechnology experience in preclinical development, pharmacokinetic/drug metabolism studies, toxicology studies, clinical operations, Phase 1-4 trials in a variety of therapeutic areas, regulatory affairs, biostatistics, data management, medical information and quality assurance. Based on her preclinical work at Immunex Corporation, she is one of 2 inventors on the patent for Enbrel.

Dr. Martell is a high impact, results-oriented scientific biotech executive with breadth and depth in clinical development, medical affairs, and business development across a range of therapeutic areas from first in human to approval and commercialization. Dr. Martell brings extensive scientific acumen to her leadership roles and has been a pivotal leader or major contributor in the success of six marketed products: Kadcyla®, Elelyso®, Intermezzo®, the trastuzumab biosimilars Ogiviri®, as well as secondary indications for Pradaxa® and Sutent®. Dr. Martell is currently President and CEO of Artizan Biosciences, Inc. and an independent Director for Aligos Therapeutics. She has held leadership and C-suite executive roles at companies including Artizan Biosciences where she led a precision medicine drug development platform company focusing on inflammatory diseases, Kura Oncology where she led the Menin Inhibitor Program and at Juniper Pharmaceuticals where she led the development program for a Bob Langer combined drug device technology that was out licensed for $131M. She started her pharma career at Pfizer where she had roles of increasing responsibility that included Clinical Team Leader for Sutent® GU solid tumors in the Oncology Business Unit and ultimately Biosimilars Medical Head. She began her clinical investigation career at Yale with a Career Development Award where she led a therapeutic cocaine vaccine trial and as Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. She was a practicing physician at Yale for 20 years and remains active as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Yale Ventures. Dr. Martell holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology from Cornell University, an M.A. in Molecular Immunology from Boston University, and an M.D. from The Chicago Medical School. She is board certified in both Internal and Addiction Medicine.

Mr. Stuart Duty is an experienced financial executive with over 30 years in finance and investment banking building leading healthcare teams on multiple platforms with a history of substantial growth in both revenue and personnel. Mr. Duty has focused primarily on biotechnology and specialty pharmaceuticals clients for much of his career, advising senior executives and boards on a range of financing activities and strategic transactions. His advisory activities spanned a global client base including significant in-country and cross-border transactions in the US, Japan, China, Canada and many European countries. Mr. Duty was a Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Securities, LLC from 2012 to 2023. Previously, he held senior roles at Piper Jaffray and Montgomery Securities. Mr. Duty also held operating roles at Oracle Partners as Chief Operating Officer and at Curative Technologies as Director, Business Development. He began his career at Kidder Peabody. Mr. Duty holds a B.A. in Biochemistry from Occidental College and an M.B.A from Harvard Business School.

Mr. Tom Sellig brings more than 30 years of global experience in the life sciences and pharmaceutical services industries. He is currently CEO of Adare Pharma Solutions, a global technology-driven Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization specializing in oral solid dosage forms. From 2019 to 2021 Tom served as Chief Executive Officer of LabConnect, a clinical trial laboratory services organization. Prior to LabConnect, Tom was Chief Commercial Officer at ConnectiveRx, where he was responsible for all commercial and customer-facing activity at the patient support and patient access company. Earlier, Tom was Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Patheon, where he played an integral role in the company’s sale to and integration with Thermo Fisher. Previously, he served as the Global Vice President of Sales and Client Services at Covance. Early in his career, Tom had a variety of sales and marketing leadership roles at Procter & Gamble, American Home Products, and Ascent Pediatrics. Tom received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from New York University.

Kristen B. Slaoui, Ph.D. has served as a member of our Board of Directors since January 2025. Dr. Slaoui has served as the Chief Corporate Development Officer at Galderma S.A., a global pharmaceutical company specializing in dermatological treatments and skin care products, since September 2020. From March 2019 to November 2022, she also served as a member of the board of directors of Villaris Therapeutics, a preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on developing novel antibody therapeutics for the treatment of vitiligo. Prior to this role, Dr. Slaoui spent 20 years at GlaxoSmithKline plc, a multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, where her pulmonary research contributed to the approvals of various inhaled medicines for respiratory disease. She subsequently held roles of increasing responsibility, including as Vice President & Head of Business Development, Pharmaceuticals Commercial Portfolio from March 2019 to August 2020 and Vice President & Head, Business Development – North America from March 2015 to March 2019. Dr. Slaoui earned Bachelor’s degrees in both Biology and Classical Studies from Gettysburg College. She earned her Ph.D. in Physiology from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Washington.

Nancy R. Phelan has served as a member of our Board of Directors since January 2025. Since May 2024, Ms. Phelan has served as Senior Vice President & Head of Customer Engagement at Trinity Life Sciences, a leader in strategy, insights and analytics for the life sciences industry. She has served as a member of the board of directors of Medexus Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on the therapeutic areas of oncology, hematology, rheumatology, auto-immune diseases, allergy, and dermatology, since September 2023, and an independent board member of FemmePharma Consumer Healthcare, a pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing treatment options to address diseases and disorders that disproportionately affect women, since 2018. From May 2022 to May 2024, Ms. Phelan served as Senior Vice President of Indegene, a technology-led healthcare solutions provider. Prior to that, she held roles of increasing responsibility with Novartis, a global leader in developing and delivering innovative medicines for serious diseases, including as Vice President, Business Transformation, Patient Engagement and Integrated Marketing Team Lead from April 2021 to May 2022 and Vice President, Patient and Specialty Services, Neuroscience from June 2002 to April 2021. She served as Chief Executive Officer and Secretary of Adhera Therapeutics, Inc., a company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of small molecule drugs, from April 2019 to June 2020 and as a director from October 2018 to June 2020. Ms. Phelan received a BA with Honors from Franklin & Marshall College and completed coursework towards an MBA from Villanova University. She also received certificates from Wharton Executive Education and the Harvard School of Public Health.