BUSINESS WIRE
2ND Annual Glaucoma 360 New Horizons Forum
Being Held February 1, 2013, in San Francisco
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Liquidia Technologies today announced the company’s Chief Scientific
Officer, Benjamin Yerxa, PhD, will participate in a panel presentation
and discussion titled “New Horizons in Glaucoma Drug Delivery” at
the Glaucoma 360 New Horizons Forum being held on Friday, February 1,
2013, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. The conference, presented by
Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF), brings together key clinical,
industry, financial and regulatory leaders in a unique exchange on
research innovation and advances in glaucoma treatment. Globally,
glaucoma is a leading cause of preventable blindness.
“We commend the GRF for once again organizing this important event and
look forward to participating with other leaders in a discussion around
the prevention and treatment of this often devastating disease,” said
Dr. Yerxa. “Ophthalmology has become an important therapeutic area for
Liquidia and we look forward to presenting the potential our
transformational technology has for the discovery and development of
innovative therapies for the treatment of glaucoma.”
Through its novel technology platform and robust intellectual property
positions, Liquidia is poised to be a leader in the development of
nanoparticle technology-based healthcare products that have the
potential to revolutionize the treatment of ophthalmic diseases like
glaucoma. The company’s PRINT® technology platform has the
unique potential to enable the discovery, development of innovative
therapies and manufacturing paradigms across the entire healthcare
landscape.
Adrienne Graves, PhD, and Andrew Iwach, MD, both currently serving on
the Glaucoma Research Foundation board of directors, founded Glaucoma
360 and also serve as Co-Chairs for the Glaucoma 360 New Horizons Forum.
Dr. Iwach, GRF Board Chair and Executive Director at the Glaucoma Center
of San Francisco, said, “Glaucoma 360 is designed to bring greater
awareness to unmet medical needs in glaucoma and to highlight current
and novel therapies that will help preserve sight for glaucoma patients.”
ABOUT GLAUCOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Founded in 1978 and headquartered in San Francisco, Glaucoma Research
Foundation is America’s oldest and most experienced nonprofit dedicated
solely to its mission: to prevent vision loss from glaucoma by investing
in innovative research, education and support with the ultimate goal of
finding a cure. Celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2013,
Glaucoma Research Foundation has invested more than $40 million to
advance essential research and education programs. More information is
available at www.glaucoma.org/about.
ABOUT DR. BENJAMIN YERXA
Dr. Yerxa joined Liquidia in August of 2012 from Clearside Biomedical,
an ophthalmic pharmaceutical company developing targeted therapeutics
for sight-threatening diseases, where he assisted the company in
securing Series A financing. Prior to Clearside, Dr. Yerxa was the
Executive Vice President and Chief, Research & Development of Inspire
Pharmaceuticals, a top ranked publicly traded biotechnology company
recently acquired by Merck & Co., Inc. During his time at Inspire, Dr.
Yerxa helped the company build and commercialize a portfolio of
innovative new products and provided critical support through multiple
rounds of financing, including the company’s initial public offering
(IPO).
Throughout his 20 year career in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology
industry, Dr. Yerxa has been involved with the discovery and development
of several investigational new drugs (INDs), phase 3 clinical programs,
new drug applications (NDAs) and drug approvals. His experience spans a
variety of therapeutic areas including ophthalmology, pulmonary,
cardiovascular and HIV. Dr. Yerxa has more than 50 U.S. patents to his
name, led a variety of licensing deals including technology transfers
and manufacturing agreements and has built several R&D and corporate
functions from inception.
Dr. Yerxa has been the recipient of several awards including the
Southeastern Region American Chemical Society Industrial Innovation
Award and the Triangle Business Journal's "40 under 40" award,
recognizing his contributions in business and leadership. Dr. Yerxa
serves on the board of directors of the North Carolina Biotechnology
Center and Sharefish.
ABOUT LIQUIDIA TECHNOLOGIES
Liquidia Technologies, founded in 2004, is a privately held
biotechnology company located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
By leveraging precise fabrication techniques of the semiconductor
industry, Liquidia has become the only company in the world with the
ability to rapidly design and manufacture precisely engineered particles
of virtually any size, shape or composition using a unique particle
engineering and manufacturing platform known as the PRINT® technology
platform. This unique ability to precisely engineer particles enables
scientists to explore new product frontiers in ophthalmology that, until
now, have otherwise been out of reach for the biotechnology industry.
Using the PRINT platform, Liquidia has the ability to optimize the
efficacy, duration, distribution and tolerability of ophthalmology
products. For more information, please go to www.liquidia.com.