John W Smither

Chief Financial Officer (interim)

John Smither is currently serving as Arcutis’ Chief Financial Officer (CFO).  Mr Smither brings more than 40 years of professional experience, over 25 years of which is in the life science industry, including five CFO roles.  He has an unsurpassed understanding of both private and public equity markets for biotechnology companies and has overseen multiple private and public financing rounds and initial public offerings (IPOs). As Arcutis’ first CFO from May 2019 to March 2021, John led the successful IPO in 2020, and built the finance function from the ground up. Prior to Arcutis, Mr Smither served as CFO for Sienna Biopharmaceuticals from January 2016 to March 2017 and again from March 2018 to April 2019. From October 2017 to April 2018, he was interim CFO for Kite Pharma during its integration with Gilead, and prior to that, was CFO at Unity Biotechnology from January 2016 to 2017. Earlier, he served as CFO of Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. from November 2007 until it was acquired by Allergan in October 2015 for $2.1 billion. From 1998 to 2007, Mr Smither held various positions at Amgen, including vice president of finance and administration for Amgen’s European Division, where he was responsible for financial operations in 28 European countries, head of internal audit, and executive director of corporate accounting. Mr Smither began his career at Ernst & Young where he was an audit partner and held certification as a Certified Public Accountant (inactive). He also serves on the Board of Directors of eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Applied Molecular Transport Inc. and NewAmsterdam Pharma Company NV.  He holds a BS in accounting, with honors, from California State University at Los Angeles.