During the week, Bryan Wahl is the full-time general counsel for Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, one of Orange County’s standout medical companies.
On some weekends, Wahl likes to practice his first chosen profession—as a medical doctor who cares for patients in Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Irvine and Baldwin Park.
“I do one or two weekend days a month,” Wahl said. Going from a doctor to a general counsel “was a pretty circuitous journey.”
Wahl has helped Tarsus launch its blockbuster medication to combat eyelid mites, an ailment that affects an estimated 25 million Americans.
He helped the company through its initial public offering, guided five follow-on equity financings worth over $400 million in net proceeds, two debt financings with up to $375 million in term loan availability, secured nine U.S. patents, several licensing partnerships, and supported the launch of Tarsus’ first international licensing partnership.
Tarsus’ stock has risen about 60% in the past 12 months and now sports a $3.1 billion market cap (Nasdaq: TARS).
For these reasons, he won a Business Journal General Counsel Award in the Public Company category before 275 guests on Nov. 6 at the Irvine Marriott.
Award presenter Nikole Kingston, a partner at O’Melveny & Myers, told a crowd of lawyers during the event that Wahl is “one of the few individuals in this room who can properly call himself a doctor.”
OC to Hawaii, Berkeley and Back
Wahl’s journey started in Orange County, where he was born some 47 years ago. He then grew up in Hawaii, where, in 1999, he earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine.
He was 21 years old at the time.
He became a resident in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for three years. He is board certified in Internal Medicine.
Then he decided to earn a law degree “on a whim,” he now says. He graduated in 2005 with a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.
By age 33, he had become a partner at Irvine-based law firm Knobbe Martens LLP, advising biotech and medical device companies on IP strategy, financing and transactions worth billions of dollars. He practiced at the nationally ranked intellectual property firm for 15 years.
Dr. Wahl Goes to Tarsus
Wahl joined Tarsus in January 2021, seeing an opportunity to “amplify impact” instead of just caring for one patient at a time or handling one client at a time.
Tarsus is marketing Xdemvy, the first and only FDA-approved treatment for Demodex blepharitis, an eyelid inflammation caused by microscopic bugs called mites. More products are in the pipeline.
He heads the “Legal Compliance and Innovation Team” at Tarsus.
“We handle all things legal and all things healthcare compliance with our sales force,” he said.
The company has also been advancing Phase 2 studies for a topical treatment for ocular rosacea—a chronic inflammatory condition of the eyes—and an oral tablet developed for potentially preventing Lyme disease, among other advances.
Wahl says amplifying his impact on the world around him has always been his goal.
“We’re really committed to finding and developing more therapeutics to help patients,” Wahl said.
“Having a platform to help millions of patients with a particular disease really appealed to me.”
Practicing Hospital Physician
As part of his efforts to give back, Wahl has also set up an endowed scholarship at the University of Hawaii.
Since 2009, Dr. Wahl has served as a “hospitalist” with Kaiser Permanente.
And while the Costa Mesa resident enjoys helping people on a sweeping scale, he also likes “helping patients one on one” with his hospital work.
Which profession does he like more—being a doctor or a lawyer?
“They both have a lot of great strengths. Having started with medicine first, my heart is still there,” he says, adding that Tarsus lets him merge his various goals.
However, practicing both professions “gets harder year by year.”
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is Gearing up for the Future
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, riding the success of its eyelid inflammation medication Xdemvy, is looking toward the next innovation.
“In order to be the next eyecare leader, we’ve got some things going on in the hopper for sure,” says Tarsus General Counsel Bryan Wahl.
The company is in Phase 2 studies for a topical treatment for ocular rosacea—a chronic inflammatory condition of the eyes—and an oral tablet developed for potentially preventing Lyme disease, among other advances.
Sales are booming for Xdemvy, the first Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for an inflammation of the eyes known as Demodex blepharitis.
Tarsus ranked No. 1 in the midsize category of fastest-growing OC companies in this year’s Business Journal rankings as two-year revenue jumped 609% to $183 million in 2024, up from $25.8 million in 2022, according to the ranking published in March.
The company’s hot sales growth continued this year. On Nov. 4, it reported third-quarter sales jumped 147% to $118.7 million (Nasdaq: TARS). Analysts predict that sales will soar 142% this year to $443 million, followed by another 52% increase next year to $674 million.
In the past 12 months, the shares had climbed more than 60% to $75.64 and a $3.2 billion market cap as of last week.
The company’s OC headcount also grew to 206, up from 93, as of March.
Tarsus plans to double its office space in Irvine by relocating to a new 60,000-square-foot corporate headquarters at Spectrum Terrace early next year.
As Tarsus grows, company CEO Bobak “Bobby” Azamian said the company is committed to seeking opportunities “where we can make the greatest impact in the healthcare industry and most importantly, to patients.”
