About us

Venatorx Pharmaceuticals is a private company that is focused on the discovery and development of novel anti-infectives to treat multi-drug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections and hard-to-treat viral infections. The company name, Venatorx (ven-a-TOREX), derives from the Latin word “venator”, meaning ‘hunter’ and “Rx”, the medical symbol for prescription drugs. The hunt for new innovative medicines is the core mission of the company. Founded in 2010, Venatorx has built a world-class in-house research and development organization. Venatorx’s lead asset, cefepime-taniborbactam, is an investigational antibiotic that has completed a Phase 3 study (NCT03840148) in adults with complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI), including pyelonephritis. A New Drug Application for U.S. marketing authorization is currently under FDA review. In 2022, BARDA awarded a Project Bioshield contract of up to $318 million to Venatorx for development and procurement of cefepime-taniborbactam for the treatment of resistant Gram negative infections, including melioidosis. As part of its broader pipeline, Venatorx is also developing an oral BL/BLI antibacterial, ceftibuten-ledaborbactam etzadroxil, that will advance directly to a global Phase 3 cUTI clinical trial under an independent new BARDA contract. To further augment its pipeline, the Company is also pursuing both antiviral and antibacterial discovery-stage programs. Notably, this includes advancement of a novel class of non-beta-lactam Penicillin Binding Protein (PBP) inhibitors that have the potential to circumvent 70+ years of bacterial resistance and usher in a new wave of antibiotic therapeutics.

History

Venatorx Pharmaceuticals was founded in June 2010 by our three visionary, fearless leaders Drs. Christopher J. Burns, Daniel C. Pevear and Luigi Xerri. We have established a world-class in-house research and development organization that has file over 120 patents and advanced multiple in house discovery programs to clinical stage. Cheers to the many milestones to come as we work purposefully every day to get antibiotics and antiviral therapies into the hands of physicians to effectively treat patients. Below are just a few of the highlights!

2010
Venatorx founded by Drs. Burns, Pevear and Xerri
2013
Venatorx Completes $3.5M Series A Financing
2017
Venatorx Raises $42M Series B Financing
2018
Venatorx Named Best Places to Work
2019
Venatorx Founders named EY ‘Entrepreneurs of the Year’
2020
Venatorx Partners with GARDP
2021
Venatorx Expands Anti-Infective Portfolio with HBV Candidate