VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals Founders Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D., Luigi Xerri, Ph.D. and Daniel C. Pevear, Ph.D. named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018 Finalists in the Greater Philadelphia Area

Malvern, PA, April 19, 2018 EY today announced that VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals’ founders Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D., President and CEO, Luigi Xerri, Ph.D., Chief Development Officer, and Daniel C. Pevear, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Biology and Grants Development have been named finalists for the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2018 Award in the Greater Philadelphia area. The awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who are excelling in areas such as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Drs. Burns, Xerri and Pevear were selected as finalists by a panel of independent judges. Award winners will be announced at a special gala event on June 14, 2018 at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

Now in its 32nd year, the program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities and more than 60 countries throughout the world. Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National competition. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced at the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards gala in Palm Springs, California, on November 10, 2018. The awards are the culminating event of the Strategic Growth Forum®, the nation’s most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year®

Entrepreneur Of The Year®, founded by EY, is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for entrepreneurs, chosen from an independent panel of judges including entrepreneurs and prominent leaders from business, finance, and the local community. The program makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global awards program of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities and more than 60 countries. www.ey.com/eoy

The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored in the US by SAP America, Merrill Corporation and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In Greater Philadelphia, sponsors also include PNC Bank, Pine Hill Group, Murray Devine & Company, SolomonEdwardsGroup, Ballard Spahr LLP, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Pepper Hamilton LLP and Simkiss & Block.

About EY

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities. EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information, please visit www.ey.com.

About VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Led by a world-class team of pharmaceutical veterans, VenatoRx is a private pharmaceutical company that is developing a new wave of antibiotic products to combat the increasing threat of carbapenem antibiotic resistance. VenatoRx’s lead product, VNRX-5133, is an injectable broad-spectrum beta-lactamase inhibitor (BLI) that directly inhibits all four Ambler classes of beta-lactamases. Early clinical studies of cefepime/VNRX-5133 have been completed and VenatoRx plans to start Phase 3 pivotal trials in mid-2018. In addition, VenatoRx has a broad pipeline of preclinical programs, including a broad-spectrum orally bioavailable BLI, and a novel class of Penicillin-Binding Protein (PBP) inhibitors that are impervious to beta-lactamase-driven resistance. For more information, please visit www.venatorx.com.

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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.

VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals Founders Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D., Luigi Xerri, Ph.D. and Daniel C. Pevear, Ph.D. named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018 Finalists in the Greater Philadelphia Area

VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals Founders Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D., Luigi Xerri, Ph.D. and Daniel C. Pevear, Ph.D. named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018 Finalists in the Greater Philadelphia Area

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