Thomas Cavanagh
Chief Executive Officer
Thomas is co-founder, CEO and a Board member of Oxular. An experienced ophthalmic pharmaceutical industry executive, Thomas has significant product development and transaction experience. He was formerly co-founder and CEO of Aciex Therapeutics, where he brought its lead program to NDA, oversaw the development of a novel API technology, which became the basis for future products, and led a successful M&A exit. His prior professional history includes positions as both a company officer and a consultant working in operational and advisory roles related to capital raises, M&A transactions, industry consolidations, strategic planning, debt financings, and post-merger integration. Thomas has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Illinois, and a BSc from Binghamton University, New York.
Ronald Yamamoto
Chief Scientific Officer
Ronald is co-founder, Chief Scientific Officer and a Board observer of Oxular. With more than 30 years of medical device and drug product development experience, Ronald has led multi-disciplinary technical teams, clinical trial development, and product registration in the US, the EU, China, and Brazil. His ophthalmic experience includes development of novel microcatheters for surgical treatment of glaucoma and retinal disease, sub-retinal access devices, diagnostic microspheres, and drug-releasing implants. Ronald’s technical background is in chemical engineering, biomaterials engineering, and biochemistry, and he is the inventor on more than 40 granted patents related to medical products. Ronald has a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology, an MSc in Biomaterials Engineering from Clemson University, South Carolina, and has completed additional postgraduate studies in Biochemistry at Clemson University and the University of Southern California.
Dr. Friedrich Asmus
Chief Medical Officer
Friedrich is Oxular’s Chief Medical Officer and has over 20 years of experience in leading clinical and translational research in industry and academia. He is a board-certified neurologist and pharmacist. For more than 10 years has successfully headed clinical development programs in the US, Europe, and Asia. Friedrich was a key strategic contributor for retinal anti‑VEGF and other ophthalmic therapies at Bayer Pharma including indications like diabetic macular edema, diabetic retinopathy, and retinal vein occlusions.
Friedrich worked on rare ophthalmic diseases at ProQR Therapeutics heading the intravitreal oligonucleotide program for genetic forms of Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and as SVP of Clinical Development for an intravitreal cell therapy for RP at jCyte.
Friedrich holds a private lectureship for Neurology at the University Hospital of Tuebingen, Germany, where he was also Deputy Chair of the Department of General Neurology. Friedrich has published over 50 peer‑reviewed full articles in ophthalmology and neurology.
Prof. Marc de Smet
Senior Medical Advisor
Marc is Oxular’s Senior Medical Advisor and a practicing vitreoretinal surgeon. Marc has more than 30 years of experience in ophthalmic drug and medical device development. Previously, he was the NEI/NIH representative responsible for defining the clinical trial of Foscarnet, the first approved drug to treat CMV retinitis in AIDS patients. He also initiated the use of Methotrexate for the treatment of intraocular lymphoma and intraocular tuberculosis. In collaboration with Thrombogenics, Marc was responsible for preclinical and clinical activities of Ocriplasmin, leading to the commercialization of Jetrea. Marc participated in the launch OTI’s transversal retinal OCT imaging and the development of Preceyes BV’s tele-operated robot dedicated to eye surgery. Marc holds a BSc (hon) from the University of Ottawa, an MD from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and a PhD from the University of Amsterdam. Marc completed residency in Ophthalmology in University of British Columbia, Vancouver, a fellowship in Uveitis at the NEI, and a VR fellowship at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore. Marc also held posts as head of the clinical immunology department of the NEI and department head of ophthalmology at the University of Amsterdam.
Dr. Jatinder Kapur
Vice President of Quality
Dr. Kapur is Oxular’s Vice President of Quality. He has more than 20 years of experience in the quality assurance function, amassing extensive knowledge in the development of both pharmaceuticals – including sterile injectables, oral dosage forms, and liquid suspension preparations – and medical devices. Dr. Kapur has worked with several pharmaceutical companies, such as Novartis, Shire Pharmaceuticals, and BTG plc, and has significant experience working with combination medical device and pharmaceutical products. Dr. Kapur has overseen product technology transfers, designed and commissioned a sterile API plant, and actively led the establishment of numerous quality management systems, including efforts at Nicholas Piramal Pharma and Nectar Lifesciences. He obtained a PhD in Organic Chemistry at Punjab University, India, in 1997 and acquired QP qualification in 2019 from the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Stacey Tucker
Finance Director
Stacey oversees Oxular’s finance and administration functions, providing objectivity and leadership as the company’s chief fiduciary. Stacey has significant experience across the entire finance function, including cash flow management and operational forecasting, accounting and reporting, tax reporting, financial audits, R&D tax credits filings, general business transactions, human resources, and oversight of general administration. She has significant experience in supporting business financings, and investor and board relations. She also coordinates information technology and accounting systems, insurance programs, and technology grant applications. Stacey previously led finance teams in several industries including publishing and aviation. She led Hangar8’s public listing in 2010 and its reverse takeover with Gama Aviation in 2015. Stacey holds a BA (hons) in Accounting and Taxation from Bournemouth University, UK, and is also an ACCA qualified accountant.
