Robert DempseyFounder

United States - Greater Boston

I was appointed to the position of CEO and President for AsclepiX Therapeutics to lead the transformation of ocular diseases and cancer through rapid clinical development. Our new chemical entities use pioneering computational biology methods to derive peptides that work naturally through existing, highly evolved, and self-regulating mechanisms of homeostasis.

Prior, I served as the Chief Executive Officer for TearClear accelerating the business and commercial strategies which led to several value inflection points including a successful Series B financing and positive FDA engagements.

I formerly served as the Group Vice President and Head of Global Ophthalmology at Shire, which was acquired by Takeda, and was responsible for one of the top 10 largest biopharma mergers of 2019, the divestiture of the Takeda lead ophthalmic drug, Xiidra® (lifitegrast ophthalmic solution) 5%, a transaction of up to $5.3 billion. This transaction for up to $5.3B from Shire’s initial investment of ~$165M in 2013 was recognized as one of the top 10 largest biopharma M&A deals in 2019.

At Shire, I swiftly established a highly regarded reputation for Shire and dry eye disease in the Ophthalmology and Optometry markets. Leading the commercialization strategy that resulted in an industry leading launch, while overseeing the acquisition of four companies that contributed to the franchise pipeline of innovative candidates aimed at improving vision-related quality, was an accomplishment about which I am most proud.

My professional affiliations and relationships in the eye care community are extensive and my recent philanthropic appointment serving on the Board of the Holland Foundation for Sight Restoration and as Co-Director of the Corporate & Surgeon Partners Program for SightLife is where I focus my efforts outside of work to help expand corneal transplant surgery centers of excellence across the U.S.

I serve as an Independent Director on the Boards for OcuTerra/SciFluor Life Sciences, Inc., iVeena Inc. and Glauconix Biosciences, Inc and a Board Advisor to the CEO of Orasis, Inc.