In this episode “serial entrepreneur” Mina Sooch, President and CEO at Ocuphire Pharma, talks with our host Firas Rahhal, MD, about her experiences of “starting things, building things, and hopefully creating exits.”

She says, “An important quality in innovating is the desire to take an asset that’s under-appreciated, add value and showcase that, and bring that to patients”.

Because she’s held different roles over her career, Ms. Sooch is able to consider different points of view about what’s needed to build a company at each stage (i.e. gaining capital and finding the right talent). She describes lessons learned, including:

• Bringing in the right KOLs, with appropriate experience to leverage.

• Diversifying your assets, two are better than one.

• The later the stage the better – and why.

Sooch also describes Ocuphire Pharma’s pipeline assets including:

• Nyxol - an ophthalmic drop that restricts the pupil, being targeted for three separate indications—reversal of mydriasis, presbyopia, and night vision disturbances.

• APX3330 - an oral tablet targeting treatment of DR and DME.

• APX2009 - being investigated for use in wet AMD.

Click play to hear Mina’s great insights!