Dr. Ben Yerxa is a pharmaceutical and biotechnology expert with over 20 years of experience in drug discovery and product launches. He has played a leading role in the discovery and development of numerous INDs, clinical programs, NDAs, and drug approvals. With more than 50 issued US patents, Dr. Yerxa is also an accomplished entrepreneur, having built R&D and corporate functions from scratch in various fields, including ophthalmology, pulmonary, oral health, cardiovascular, and HIV.

Dr. Yerxa is a former Section 16 officer of Inspire, a top 50 public biotech company, where he reported to the CEO from IPO through multiple follow-on financings raising over $350M. He has also supervised drug discovery, clinical, preclinical, regulatory, drug safety, biostatistics, business development, manufacturing, and technical operations groups, as well as university technology transfer and joint committees with corporate partners.

Dr. Yerxa has received numerous awards for his innovative work, including the Southeastern Region American Chemical Society Industrial Innovation Award and the Triangle Business Journal's "40 under 40" award, and he was a finalist for Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award in NC. He serves on the Board of Directors of several organizations, including the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, the Nanomedicines Alliance, and Sharefish, and he is also an Associate Editor of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and on the Editorial Board of Purinergic Signaling.

Dr. Yerxa's expertise and skills cut across drug discovery, clinical development, regulatory affairs, business development, manufacturing, and corporate leadership in various therapeutic areas, including ophthalmology, pulmonary, oral health, cardiovascular, and HIV. He has also worked extensively with Japanese pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies.