Dr. Neal Walker
Advisor
Neal Walker co-founded Aclaris and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer
and as a director since its inception in 2012.
Neal is a board-certified dermatologist and serial entrepreneur with over 20 years
of experience in the life sciences industry. Neal’s pharmaceutical industry career
began at Johnson & Johnson, from which he went on to co-found a number of companies,
including NeXeption, LLC, a biopharmaceutical assets management company; Vicept Therapeutics,
Inc., a dermatology-focused specialty pharmaceutical company (acquired by Allergan,
Inc.); Octagon Research Solutions, Inc., a software and services provider to biopharmaceutical
companies (acquired by Accenture plc); Trigenesis Therapeutics, Inc., a specialty
dermatology company (acquired by Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Inc.); and Cutix Inc., a
commercial dermatology company. Neal also co-founded and serves on the board of directors
of a number of ventures, including the Dermatology Summit, Dermatology Innovation
Forum, and Advancing Innovation in Dermatology. In 2016, Dr. Walker was awarded the
Frank Baldino Bioscience CEO of the Year award and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur
of the Year Greater Philadelphia award.
Currently, Neal is on the boards of directors of Alderya Therapeutics, Inc. and Life
Sciences Pennsylvania, and he is a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology.
He received a master of business administration from The Wharton School of the University
of Pennsylvania, a doctor of osteopathic medicine from the Philadelphia College of
Osteopathic Medicine and a bachelor of arts in biology from Lehigh University.