Malvern, PA, June 20, 2019 – Venatorx Pharmaceuticals today announced that its founders, Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D., Daniel C. Pevear, Ph.D., and Luigi Xerri, Ph.D., received the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2019 Award in the Health and Life Sciences category in Greater Philadelphia.
Venatorx Pharmaceuticals founders, Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D., Daniel C. Pevear, Ph.D., and Luigi Xerri, Ph.D., named Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Award Winners in the Health and Life Sciences category in Greater Philadelphia
Now in its 33rd year, the program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities and more than 60 countries throughout the world. Widely considered one of the most prestigious business awards programs in the U.S., the award recognizes entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies who are excelling in areas such as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities, while also transforming our world.
“We are honored to receive the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 award and share this recognition with our esteemed colleagues who work tirelessly every day to realize our mission and vision to discover—and ultimately make clinically available—new medicines to treat multi-drug-resistant infections (‘superbugs’) and hard-to-treat viral infections,” said Drs. Burns, Pevear and Xerri. “We are proud that all of our investigational molecules are discovered internally. We have built a world-class, in-house, R&D organization that has filed over 100 patents spanning multiple research programs. We look forward to representing the Greater Philadelphia area health and life sciences community on a national stage and share our story.”
Drs. Burns, Pevear and Xerri were selected as winners by a panel of independent judges. 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 16, 2019. 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. 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
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored by SAP America and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In Greater Philadelphia, sponsors also include PNC Bank, Donnelley Financial Solutions, Murray Devine & Company, SolomonEdwards Group, 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
Venatorx is a private pharmaceutical company that is focused on the discovery and development of novel anti-infectives to treat multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections and hard-to-treat viral infections. Founded in 2010, Venatorx has built a world-class in-house R&D organization that has filed over 100 patents spanning multiple research programs. Venatorx has received significant funding awards from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Wellcome Trust, CARB-X, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) as well as private equity investments from Versant Ventures, Abingworth, and Foresite Capital.
The Company’s most advanced development-stage product is VNRX-5133, an injectable beta-lactamase inhibitor (BLI) that features selective and potent in vitro activity against both serine- and metallo-beta-lactamases, including ESBL, OXA, KPC, NDM, and VIM enzymes. Venatorx believes that VNRX-5133, in a fixed combination with the fourth generation cephalosporin, cefepime, has the potential to provide a valuable broad-spectrum treatment option to meet unmet medical need in patients with infections due to carbapenem-resistant pathogens including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA), suspected polymicrobial infections caused by both gram-negative and gram-positive susceptible pathogens, and engineerable MDR bioterror pathogens such as Burkholderia spp. and Salmonella spp. Early clinical studies of cefepime/VNRX-5133 have been completed and Venatorx intends to initiate Phase 3 pivotal trials during the third quarter 2019. This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. HHSN272201300019C, and The Wellcome Trust under Award No. 360G-Wellcome-101999/Z/13/Z.
Venatorx’s second development-stage product in clinical development is VNRX-7145, an orally bioavailable BLI that in a fixed combination with the third generation orally bioavailable cephalosporin, ceftibuten, has the potential to rescue activity of the partner antibiotic against ESBLs and key carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, including those expressing KPC and OXA carbapenemases. This project has been funded in part with Federal funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. HHSN272201600029C.
Additionally, Venatorx has a broad pipeline of preclinical programs including a novel class of Penicillin-Binding Protein (PBP) inhibitors that are impervious to beta-lactamase-driven resistance, and novel antiviral agents targeting Hepatitis B Virus. For more information, please visit www.venatorx.com.