Ben Yerxa
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer | Opus Genetics
Dr. Yerxa is a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Opus Genetics, a gene therapy company focused on rare inherited retinal diseases. Prior to joining Opus, Dr. Yerxa served as the CEO of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, the world’s leading private funder of research on potential treatments and cures for retinal degenerative diseases. He also created and led the RD Fund, the venture philanthropy arm of the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Dr. Yerxa was president and co-founder of Envisia Therapeutics, a company focused on developing novel ocular sustained delivery therapies for the front and back of the eye. Dr. Yerxa has more than 25 years' experience in biotechnology, drug development, and in translating promising research discoveries into clinical milestones and treatments. Dr. Yerxa holds 60 U.S. patents. An inventor of DIQUAS™, an innovative treatment for dry eye approved in Japan, he has been involved in the discovery and development of investigational new drugs, Phase 3 clinical programs, new drug applications, and drug approvals. Dr. Yerxa earned his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, and BA in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Yerxa serves on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Clearside Biomedical (CLSD), Nacuity Pharmaceuticals, and Sharefish.