Executive Management

Hampar Karageozian, M.Sc., MBA
Co-Founder and CEO

Hampar has over 40 years of distinguished service in ophthalmic drug development. During his career, Hampar has brought over 30 ophthalmic drugs to market and is an author or co-author of more than 30 worldwide issued patents. Hampar is the co-founder and CEO of Allegro Ophthalmics, LLC. Previously, Hampar was the co-founder and CTO of ISTA Pharmaceuticals and served as CEO at Prima Pharmaceuticals, S K Pharmaceuticals and Vitreoretinal Technologies. He has previously raised numerous rounds of venture capital funding for several of these companies, as well as active involvement in the initial public offering of ISTA Pharmaceuticals.

Prior to co-founding Prima Pharmaceuticals, Hampar spent 23 years at Allergan Pharmaceuticals in senior management positions, including corporate head of research & development. Hampar’s extensive experience and expertise spans well beyond research and development to include drug discovery and development, domestic and international regulatory affairs, clinical studies, and API and finished product manufacturing.

Hampar received his B.Sc. in Pharmacy from American University of Beirut, his M.Sc. in Biochemistry from MIT, and his MBA from University of California, Irvine.

Vicken Karageozian, M.D.
Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer

Vicken is a board certified ophthalmologist who leads the clinical and technical aspects of  Allegro Ophthalmics as the Chief Technical Officer.

In addition to Allegro Ophthalmics, Vicken has over 15 years of experience in corporate and start-up ophthalmic drug development at Allergan, ISTA Pharmaceuticals, and most recently at Vitreoretinal Technologies Inc. where he served as CTO and co-founder. His drug development experience is especially strong in “back of the eye” conditions. Vicken has also played an integral role in corporate strategic development.

Vicken has extensive experience authoring and leading US and international human Phase 1, 2 and 3 pivotal clinical studies. His experience includes clinical, regulatory, and corporate strategy in leading multiple first in class clinical programs involving novel trial and clinical endpoint strategies. Specifically, he has been responsible directly and in coordination with multiple CROs for multiple Phase 2 and 3 studies involving hundreds of patients.

Vicken graduated among the top of his class from the University of California, San Diego in 1991 with dual degrees in biochemistry/cellular biology, as well as economics. In 1995, Vicken received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, where he also ranked in the top of his class. After completing an internship at UCLA, he completed his ophthalmology residency at the University of California, Irvine in 2000.

Marc D. Kirshbaum, J.D.
Chief Operating Officer

Having built, lead and grown companies across a range of industries for close to 20 years, Marc now serves as the chief operating officer of Allegro Ophthalmics, LLC. In this capacity, Marc is responsible for the business and operational aspects of the company.

Marc has a consistent track record of leading organizations by bringing simplicity in problem solving to otherwise complex situations, resulting in growth and acceleration. He is passionate about taking organizations to new heights by focusing on three interdependent pillars of success: strategy, leadership and execution.

Prior to joining Allegro in 2010, Marc served as president and COO of Private Access, Inc., a start-up venture that focused on leveraging search technology to transform access to confidential healthcare information.  During his leadership of Private Access, the product was commercially launched, key strategic partnerships were formed within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, and the company was recognized as #12 on Forbes’ 2009 List of America’s Most Promising Companies.

Marc also dedicated more than six years at Experian plc as a turnaround and growth expert, including being president of the Fraud & Identity Solutions business and the Business Information Solutions Group. At Experian, as in his other ventures, Marc was passionate about building, aligning and inspiring teams that execute on their strategy, as measured by a combination of sustainable financial growth and employee and client satisfaction.

Marc previously served on the board of directors of Vitreoretinal Technologies and is an active volunteer in his community, as well as a speaker on the topic of leadership and team building. Marc received his law degree from The University of Chicago and his Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude in Economics and Political Science from the University of Southern California.

John Park, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Vice President of Product Development

John is the vice president of product development, manufacturing and quality for Allegro Ophthalmics, as well as one of its co-founders. John brings to Allegro nearly 40 years of experience bringing ophthalmic drugs from concept to market, specifically in research and development, as well as product development.

John’s biotech development experience includes 16 years with Allergan Pharmaceuticals in ophthalmic drug and optical care product development as a principle research scientist, and 15 years as vice president responsible for product development, manufacturing and quality control at Vitreoretinal Technologies, ISTA Pharmaceuticals, and S K Pharmaceuticals.

John is the author or co-author of more than 20 patents. John was a postdoctoral fellow at California Institute of Technology after receiving his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at the University of Houston. John also received his M.S. in Organic Chemistry from Louisiana Tech and his B.S. in Chemistry and Physics from Yon Sei University in Seoul, Korea.

Lisa Karageozian
Co-Founder and Director of Clinical Research

Lisa currently serves as Allegro’s director of clinical research and is a co-founder of the company. She is responsible for coordinating all aspects of the company’s clinical trials.

Lisa has more than 15 years of experience in ophthalmic clinical research from her years at ISTA Pharmaceuticals and Vitreoretinal Technologies, Inc. This experience spans across multiple US and international sites involving hundreds of patients.

Lisa earned her B.S. from University of California, Irvine.