Dr. Neal Walker
Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chair of Board of Directors, Aclaris
Dr. Neal Walker co-founded Aclaris and has served as Aclaris’ Interim Chief Executive Officer since January 2024, and Chair of Aclaris’ board of directors since January 2023. He previously served as Aclaris’ Chief Executive Officer until December 2022 and has served as a member of the board of directors since its inception in July 2012.
Neal is a board-certified dermatologist and serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the life science industry. He began his pharmaceutical industry career at Johnson & Johnson. Neal co-founded NeXeption, LLC, a biopharmaceutical assets management company, in 2012, and its affiliated companies. Prior to Aclaris, he co-founded and served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Vicept Therapeutics, Inc., a dermatology-focused specialty pharmaceutical company, from 2009 until its acquisition by Allergan, Inc. in 2011. Previously, Neal co-founded and led a number of life science companies, including Octagon Research Solutions, Inc., a software and services provider to biopharmaceutical companies (acquired by Accenture plc); Trigenesis Therapeutics, Inc., a specialty dermatology company, where he served as Chief Medical Officer (acquired by Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Inc.); and Cutix Inc., a commercial dermatology company. He also co-founded and previously served on the boards of the Dermatology Summit, Dermatology Innovation Forum, and Advancing Innovation in Dermatology. Neal is on the board of directors of Aldeyra Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly held biotechnology company, as well as several private companies. In 2016, Neal was awarded the Frank Baldino Bioscience CEO of the Year award and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Greater Philadelphia award. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Neal 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.