Benjamin R. Yerxa, Ph.D.
Benjamin R. Yerxa, Ph.D. has served as a director of Clearside since March 2022. Dr. Yerxa has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology leadership experience in the fields of ophthalmology, pulmonary, rare disease, cardiovascular and HIV, from drug discovery through product launches. He is CEO of Opus Genetics, a gene therapy company for inherited retinal diseases. Dr. Yerxa has served in senior leadership roles in multiple public and private ophthalmology companies and has been involved with the discovery and development of numerous Investigational New Drug Applications, Phase 3 clinical programs, New Drug Applications, drug approvals and product launches. He is also an entrepreneur with more than 50 issued U.S. patents. Dr. Yerxa serves on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and several private ophthalmic companies, including Nacuity Pharmaceuticals and Sparing Vision. Dr. Yerxa earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, and B.A. in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego.