Dr Riad Sherif is the CEO of Oculis which has a portfolio of ophthalmology medicines at various stages of development. Of course, before he made the leap into the hot seat at a pharma start-up, he thought hard about the company’s chances of success.

‘When investors look seriously at a company, they do a thorough IP review,’ he says. ‘Nobody will invest in innovation unless the company has technology that is patented. There is always risk with investment so there has to be a potential reward later on.’ Without investment, Oculis would not have been able to fund the clinical trials required to develop their products – and they would have no hope of reaching the market.