About Us

arsus Pharmaceuticals is a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class therapeutic candidates to address large market opportunities initially in ophthalmic conditions where there are limited treatment alternatives, starting with Demodex blepharitis. Tarsus was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

Board of Directors

Michael Ackermann, Ph.D.
Chairman

Michael is a co-founder of Tarsus and currently serves as the Chairman of the Board. Michael also serves as Chairman of Oyster Point Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: OYST) and Chairman of Presidio Medical, Inc.  He was previously Vice President, Neurostimulation for Allergan, plc after serving as CEO of Oculeve, Inc., which was acquired by Allergan.  He received a B.E. degree in biomedical engineering from Vanderbilt University; M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University; is a graduate of the Stanford University Biodesign Fellowship; and Vision Research Fellowship at Stanford University.  He has numerous patents and peer-reviewed publications.

Bobak Azamian, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer

Bobby is co-founder and CEO of Tarsus and Co-Chairman of Vibrato Medical.  He has co-founded and built three companies advancing pioneering chronic disease treatments; provided leadership and strategic guidance through discovery, development, and commercialization; and raised over $150M from institutional investors and corporate partners.  Bobby previously served as CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Metavention. He also serves on the Board of the nonprofit Octane.
 
Bobby began his biotechnology career as an investor and entrepreneur with Versant Ventures and Third Rock Ventures, and previously completed residency in internal medicine and was an attending hospitalist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He received an MD from Harvard Medical School (Harvard-MIT Heath Sciences and Technology), a PhD in Chemistry from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and a BA in Physics from Rice University.

Bhaskar Chaudhuri, Ph.D.
Director

Bhaskar is Operating Partner at Frazier Healthcare Partners where he joined in 2011 and brings to the Life Sciences team significant operational experience in drug research, development, and commercialization in the United States, Europe, and emerging markets. He leads investments in later-stage companies and in international opportunities and is a co-founder of Arcutis (NASDAQ: ARQT), where he currently serves on the Board. Bhaskar also serves on the Board of Teligent (NASDAQ: TLGT) and is an advisor to the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. Bhaskar also served on the board of directors of Silvergate Pharmaceuticals (acquired by CutisPharma), Corium International (acquired by Gurnet Point Capital) and Thesan Pharmaceuticals.

Prior to joining Frazier, Bhaskar was President of Valeant Pharmaceuticals, where he led Valeant’s international operations and business development activities. He joined Valeant through its acquisition of Dow Pharmaceutical Sciences, where he had been President and CEO. Before Dow, Bhaskar worked at Mylan Pharmaceuticals in several capacities including EVP of Scientific Affairs at Mylan subsidiary Bertek Pharmaceuticals, and as General Manager of the Dermatology Division. Earlier, he worked at Penederm, a skin-products and drug-delivery company, as VP of R&D.

Bhaskar holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics, a M.S. in Industrial Pharmacy and a B.S. in Pharmacy.

Andrew Goldberg, M.D.
Director

Andrew is a Principal at Vivo Capital based in Palo Alto where he helps lead investments in private pharmaceutical and medical device companies across all life-cycle stages.  Prior to Vivo, Dr. Goldberg worked at McKinsey & Company in their Silicon Valley office, where he served global pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology companies across a range of strategy, M&A, sales, marketing, and product development topics. Dr. Goldberg currently serves or has served on the board of several life sciences companies including Swift Health Systems Inc (Chairman), Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) (observer), Instil Bio (observer), Harmony Biosciences (observer), Impel Neuropharma (observer).  Other representative investments include Rivervision (acquired by Horizon) and Tricida (TCDA).

Dr. Goldberg is a U.S. board-certified physician in both Critical Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine. He served as an Instructor in Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, MN, where he completed a fellowship in Critical Care Medicine and served as an Attending Physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Prior to this, he completed Emergency Medicine residency training at Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center (LAC+USC).

Dr. Goldberg received his M.D. from The George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, DC, and has held academic and clinical appointments at the Stanford VA Palo Alto Medical Center, Oregon Health & Science University, the University of Arizona, and currently at the Washington Township Medical Foundation. 

William J. Link, Ph.D.
Director

Bill is Founder and Managing Partner of Flying L Partners and a Founder and Managing Director of Versant Ventures. He specializes in early-stage investing in medical devices. Prior to co-founding Versant Ventures, Bill was a general partner at Brentwood Venture Capital and has over two decades of operations experience in the healthcare industry. Bill was previously Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Chiron Vision, which was sold to Bausch and Lomb in 1997. Prior to Chiron Vision, Bill founded and served as President of American Medical Optics (AMO), a division of American Hospital Supply Corporation, which was sold to Allergan in 1986. Later, he served on the Board of AMO’s successor company, Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) which was acquired by Abbott in 2009 and then by Johnson and Johnson in 2016.  Before entering the healthcare industry, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Bill currently serves on the board of several private companies and Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW), Glaukos (NYSE: GKOS), and Oyster Point Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: OYST). He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Purdue University.

Jason Tester
Director

Jason is the Chief Financial Officer of the Horowitz Group, an opportunistic, multi-asset class family investment office in Newport Beach, California.  Notable transactions include the ownership and sale of Standard Concrete and founding investments in Sprouts Farmers Markets and Lemonade, a fast-casual dining concept. In addition to CFO responsibilities, Jason is active in the firm’s healthcare transactions.  Recent healthcare investments include Metavention, a medical device company developing a novel glucose control therapy for patients with Type 2 diabetes, and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Horowitz Group, Jason served for nine years as the CFO of AcuFocus, an ophthalmic medical device company focused on solutions for presbyopia.  Previously, Jason worked in investment banking at Jefferies and BNP Paribas, with a concentration in healthcare and also worked in business development for the Innovation Factory, a medical device incubator. Jason began his career as a CPA; he holds an MBA from Emory University, a Master of Accountancy specializing in Tax, and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of Georgia. Jason is married with three children and serves on the Board and as Treasurer of Mariners Christian School.