Liquidia Technologies Appoints Dr. Benjamin Yerxa as Chief Scientific Officer
Liquidia Technologies
Liquidia Technologies, a privately held biotechnology company developing particle-based vaccines and therapeutics, today announced it has named Benjamin Yerxa, Ph.D. as the company’s Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Yerxa will be responsible for research and development and the overall scientific direction of the company, including a focus on scientific collaborations.
Dr. Yerxa joins Liquidia from Clearside Biomedical, an early stage ophthalmic startup, where he recently assisted the company in securing a 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 biotech 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).
“We are very pleased to welcome Ben to the Liquidia team and strongly believe his entrepreneurial spirit and scientific expertise and vision will play an important role in helping us realize the full potential of our PRINT technology,” said Neal Fowler, Chief Executive Officer at Liquidia. “Ben’s scientific and corporate accomplishments exemplify Liquidia’s passion to bring novel products to market that have the potential to transform patients’ lives.”
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.
Liquidia Technologies is a privately held biotechnology company located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Liquidia was founded in 2004 on the discoveries of Professor Joseph DeSimone and colleagues at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and continues to maintain a powerful collaboration with UNC that enhances the company's ability to develop new PRINT particle based applications. By leveraging precise fabrication techniques of the semiconductor industry, Liquidia has the ability to rapidly design and manufacture precisely engineered particles of virtually any size, shape, or composition using the PRINT platform, the company’s proprietary particle engineering and manufacturing technology. In addition to the development of its own products, Liquidia licenses its cGMP capable PRINT technology to support proprietary programs advanced by collaborators. For more information, please go to .