Antimicrobials Working Group Announces Updates to Leadership Team

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Antimicrobials Working Group (AWG) announced today the appointment of a new Chairperson, Ciara Kennedy, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Kennedy replaces Evan Loh, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc., who has completed his two-year term as Chairman of AWG. Dr. Loh will remain on the AWG Executive Committee. AWG also announced that Executive Committee member Ted Schroeder, Chief Executive Officer of Nabriva Therapeutics, has been appointed Vice Chair.

“Ciara is an exceptional leader whose combined scientific expertise and business acumen will serve AWG well as the organization continues to champion the scientific, regulatory and economic needs of infectious disease companies working to address today’s unspoken pandemic, antimicrobial resistance,” said Dr. Loh. “It has been a privilege to serve as Chairman of AWG these past two years and I look forward to working closely with Ciara and the Executive Committee as we continue to confront the need for a strong antimicrobials pipeline and push for legislation and public policy changes, including the passage of the DISARM Act, to support innovation in antimicrobial discovery, development and successful commercialization.”

“On behalf of the AWG I would like to thank Evan for his leadership, commitment, and dedication to advancing our coalition’s priorities in his role as Chairman,” said Dr. Kennedy, incoming Chair. “Evan’s work has been invaluable in our efforts to bring about the critical changes necessary to improve the regulatory, investment, and commercial environment for antimicrobial drug development companies. As we enter into a time where the need for innovative infectious disease medicines has never been clearer, I look forward to working with the Executive Committee and Board as we partner with our elected officials to advocate for key legislation, primarily The DISARM Act, that will stabilize the antimicrobial ecosystem, encourage reinvestment in the development of new antimicrobials, and improve patient access to much-needed therapies for dangerous and increasingly drug-resistant pathogens.”

About The Antimicrobials Working Group

AWG was founded in 2012 with the vision of utilizing collective power to improve the regulatory, investment, and commercial environment for emerging infectious disease companies. Today, AWG is comprised of twelve antimicrobials companies: Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Cidara Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CDTX), Entasis Therapeutics Inc., Iterum Therapeutics Ltd. (NASDAQ: ITRM), Melinta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MLNT), Nabriva Therapeutics US Inc. (NASDAQ: NBRV), Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTK), Qpex Biopharma, Inc., SCYNEXIS Inc. (NASDAQ: SCYX), Summit Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: SMMT) (AIM: SUMM), VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and X-Biotix Therapeutics.

For more information, visit: www.antimicrobialsworkinggroup.org

About The Conafay Group

The Conafay Group, led by Stephen R. Conafay, Principal, is a life-sciences government relations firm based in Washington D.C. that serves as Washington counsel and coalition manager for AWG.

For more information, visit: www.conafaygroup.com

Michael N. Dudley, Pharm.D.

President and Chief Executive Officer
Qpex Biopharma, Inc.

Dr. Dudley has over 30 years of experience in antiinfective drug research, development, and commercialization. In 2018, he co-founded Qpex Biopharma which raised $33M in Series A financing and acquired the preclinical infectious disease programs from The Medicines Company. He has overseen the development and regulatory approval of 3 antibiotics, most recently a beta-lactamase inhibitor combination product from a new chemical class (vaborbactam) discovered in the company laboratories. The antibiotic product Vabomere™ advanced from discovery to FDA approval in 2017 in less than 8 years. He lead the negotiation for multiple contracts from public-private partnerships (e.g., BARDA of the US Government; Innovative Medicines Initiative for the EU) for a combined total of over $190 million funding to advance antimicrobial agents in development in the US and Europe. Prior to co-founding Qpex, he was Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Rempex Pharmaceuticals that was acquired by the Medicines Company (MDCO) in 2013, where he remained as the co-leader of the Infectious Disease Business Unit of MDCO. Prior to Rempex, he held VP/SVP/CSO positions of increasing responsibility at the biotech companies Mpex Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Aptalis in 2011), Diversa Corporation, and Microcide Pharmaceuticals. Prior to his career in pharmaceutical industry, he held full-time academic appointments that included Professor of Pharmacy and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy (URI), and Adjunct Professor of Medicine, Brown University School of Medicine at Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, RI. As an academic researcher, he conducted preclinical and clinical research in antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral agents, including pioneering work on PK-PD approaches for several classes of antiinfectives. Dr. Dudley has published over 130 scientific papers and book chapters describing the evaluation and clinical use of antiinfective agents and treatment of infectious diseases. He has served as an invited speaker at several FDA and EMA workshops, international meetings on infectious diseases, and advisor to several companies. He has served as an Editor for the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and numerous other editorial and advisory boards. He completed undergraduate work at Pepperdine University and his Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), completed at residency at UCSF, and a fellowship in infectious diseases at Hartford Hospital.

René Russo, PharmD, BCPS

René Russo, PharmD, BCPS

Roger J. Pomerantz, M.D., F.A.C.P.

Christine Ann Miller

Graham G. Lumsden

Marco Taglietti, M.D.

Ankit Mahadevia

Jeffrey Stein, Ph.D.

Evan Loh, M.D.

Michael Dunne, M.D

Ciara Kennedy, Ph.D.

Ted Schroeder

Kevin Finney

Manos Perros, Ph.D.

David Roblin

Stephen Conafay

Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D.

Michael N. Dudley, Pharm.D.

Ramani Varanasi

Corey Fishman

Felix Faupel

Adrian Nivoliez