SEATTLE—Visus Therapeutics announced the appointment of six new senior leaders including Tim Grinstead as chief operating officer, James Burke as vice president of research, Patrick Hughes, PhD, as vice president of pharmaceutical development, Lisa Simpson as vice president of clinical operations and compliance, Dr. Guru Sharma as director of ophthalmology and clinical development, and Alex Oh as vice president of intellectual property. “I am pleased to welcome these leaders who bring more than 130 years of cumulative experience in ophthalmics and pharmaceuticals to the Visus Therapeutics team,” said Ben Bergo, co-founder and chief executive officer at Visus Therapeutics.

“As we approach important data readouts for our lead program in presbyopia, the expansion of our leadership team bolsters our capabilities across operations and research and development at a critical juncture. We are thrilled to continue to attract the most talented individuals in this industry who are aligned with our mission of improving patient lives by developing differentiated, best-in-class ophthalmic therapies.”

Grinstead brings more than 25 years of pharmaceutical operations leadership to Visus Therapeutics including experience with approved products and late-stage clinical candidates. Burke spent more than 30 years at Allergan, where he held numerous leadership roles in ophthalmic discovery and development programs. Hughes previously served as vice president, drug delivery innovation at Glaukos. Prior to that, he had a 22-year career at Allergan.
 
Simpson brings more than 25 years of experience in clinical research with a focus in ophthalmology. She was recently vice president of R&D compliance for AbbVie and Allergan. Dr. Sharma brings more than 20 years of clinical research experience to his new role. He most recently served as an ocular anatomy professor at the College of Optometry at Western University of Health Sciences.
 
Oh has over a decade of experience in planning and executing IP and legal strategies in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, chemical, and medical device industries. Most recently, he served as senior counsel at Bristol Myers Squibb.