“People have asked me why i started Espero Biopharma in jacksonville when there is no industry and few talent locally”

Here are the reasons.

Few American cities of any size are home to so many facilities, among them Ackerman Cancer Center, Baptist Health, Brooks Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, Memorial Hospital, Nemours Children’s Clinic, St. Vincent’s HealthCare, University of Florida (UF) Health Jacksonville, UF Health Proton Therapy Institute and Wolfson Children’s Hospital.

Few offer so many top programs, from cancer treatment, cardiac health, and advanced rehabilitation therapies to dialysis, pediatrics, bariatric surgery, family medicine, key medical research projects, and much more. A thriving biopharma industry and research and residency collaborations with the University of Florida and other research institutions would catapult the area to national attention.

There are many factors in successfully developing prescription drugs for global use, especially ones to treat cardiovascular diseases. The intersection of drug development is where innovative science meets patients in clinical trials and under medical care at one of our many fine facilities in Jacksonville.

We named our company Espero because it means hope. And that’s what we seek to provide to every patient who takes our innovative cardiovascular medicines. Hope for improved health, hope for a better tomorrow.

A company has to be the first in this area, so it may as well be Espero. Never let any precedence get in the way of innovation!

Quang “Q” Pham has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since he founded Espero in 2014. Espero has a robust cardiorenal clinical development pipeline, including tecarfarin (FDA Orphan Drug Designation and Phase III-ready for End-Stage Renal Disease with Atrial Fibrillation), budiodarone (third Phase II-ready for atrial fibrillation), and DURLAZA® (prescription extended-release aspirin). Espero was also twice named by the Jacksonville Business Journal as the fastest-growing company in Northeast Florida.

Quang also founded Lathian Systems, an innovative company that provided online data and marketing services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies. He raised venture capital and corporate funding for Lathian, grew the business, and led its eventual sale to D&R Communications in 2012.

After serving as a Marine Corps pilot in the Persian Gulf War, Quang began his pharmaceutical career. He is a published author and holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has received the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year®, BioFlorida’s Entrepreneur of the Year, and named a Veteran of Influence. Quang currently serves on the boards of directors of Espero, Westwood Therapeutics, Volunteers in Medicine, and BioFlorida.