George Magrath

George Magrath, MD, is Chief Executive Officer and a Board member of Opus Genetics, a publicly traded biotechnology company that develops medicines and therapies to treat rare genetic diseases causing childhood blindness. Drawing on his extensive clinical research, business, finance, and board experience, in 2023, he led the acquisition of Opus Genetics by Ocuphire Pharma, spearheading the merger and integration of both companies' assets and staff. Noted for establishing a predictive AI model to help identify which patients are most likely to benefit from the groundbreaking treatments Opus Genetics is developing, he’s also pioneering an AI tool designed for clinical trial management to reduce costs to encourage more biotech companies to develop cures for orphan diseases. He previously served as Chief Medical Officer and then CEO of Lexitas Pharmaceuticals Services, Inc., a contract provider of clinical trials, regulatory, and medical strategy services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies developing ophthalmic products. As CEO, he grew the company from 35 staff to 200, tripled the number of active clinical trials to 40, and increased annual revenues from $10 million to $36 million within two years. As Medical Director at Hovione Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Magrath oversaw pipeline development for the company’s proprietary drugs to treat dermatology, ophthalmology and respiratory illnesses. He successfully took two assets from the pre-clinical trial phase to phase 3 clinical trials, while continuing to treat ocular oncology and retina disease patients, a practice he continues today. After earning his MD from the Medical University of South Carolina, he did a surgical fellowship in ocular oncology at Philadelphia’s Wills Eye Hospital. To date, he has published more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters based on his clinical research in ocular cancer, macular degeneration, and retinoblastoma. To help support his wife and two children during his fellowship, Dr. Magrath also worked as a healthcare analyst at Edison Investment Research, where he conducted independent equity analysis for biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device companies. His work there inspired him to pursue an MBA and an MS in Finance to further advance his market capitalization and M&A valuation experience. Dr. Magrath serves on the boards of directors or advisory boards of several biotech firms and nonprofits, including NanoRetinal, Implicit Bioscience, Inc., the Foundation Fighting Blindness Innovation Fund, and ONO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. To schedule a media interview or speaking engagement with him, please contact his PR Manager at sandiprestidgegroup.com. Talks about: #curingblindness #inheritedretinaldisease #AIforclinicaltrials #opthalmology #childhoodblindness #genetherapy