VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals to Present its Lead Clinical Antibacterial Candidate, VNRX-5133, at the American Chemical Society National Meeting

President and CEO, Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D., will present at the First-Time Disclosure of Clinical Candidates Oral Symposium on March 21, 2018 at 3:15pm CT

Malvern, PA, March 19, 2018 – VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals announced that its President and CEO, Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D., will present its lead clinical antibacterial candidate, VNRX-5133, during the First-Time Disclosure of Clinical Candidates Symposium at the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting on Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at 3:15pm CT in the La Nouvelle Orleans Ballrooms A/B at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA. The oral presentation is entitled, “Discovery of VNRX-5133: A broad-spectrum serine- and metallo-beta-lactamase inhibitor (BLI) for carbapenem-resistant bacterial infections (“superbugs”).”

VNRX-5133 is a new-generation BLI with unique broad-spectrum activity, covering both serine- and metallo-beta-lactamases. VenatoRx is developing VNRX-5133 in a fixed combination with the 4^th generation cephalosporin Cefepime to provide a best-in-class treatment option for infections caused by multi-drug resistant (MDR) gram-negative bacteria, including: carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; suspected polymicrobial infections caused by both gram-negative and gram-positive pathogens; and bioterror pathogens such as Burkholderia spp. and Salmonella spp.

This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. HHSN272201300019C, and Wellcome Trust under Award No. 360G-Wellcome-101999/Z/13/Z.

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 major classes of beta-lactamases. VNRX-5133, in combination with cefepime, has completed early clinical studies and 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 to Present its Lead Clinical Antibacterial Candidate, VNRX-5133, at the American Chemical Society National Meeting

VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals to Present its Lead Clinical Antibacterial Candidate, VNRX-5133, at the American Chemical Society National Meeting

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