Venatorx Pharmaceuticals and the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) today announced a collaboration to accelerate the development of, and access to, cefepime-taniborbactam (formerly cefepime/VNRX-5133). Cefepime-taniborbactam is an investigational combination of the fourth-generation antibiotic cefepime with taniborbactam, a novel, broad-spectrum beta-lactamase inhibitor that restores the activity of cefepime against carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) and carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA).

Venatorx Pharmaceuticals today announced that it joined the Alliance for Biosecurity, a coalition of biopharmaceutical companies – along with laboratory and academic partners – that promotes a strong public-private partnership in order to ensure the medical countermeasures that protect public health are effective and readily available.

CARB-X is awarding Venatorx Pharmaceuticals up to US$4.1 million in non-dilutive funding, with the possibility of up to an additional US$8.9 million if certain project milestones are met, to develop a new class of oral antibiotics to treat infections caused by multi-drug-resistant (MDR) Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

With more than 20 years’ experience, Dr. Larsen is globally recognized as a leader in the area of public health preparedness. At Venatorx, Dr. Larsen will help translate Venatorx’s rich internal programs toward strategic public and private partnerships, and will help identify new growth opportunities for Venatorx.

Venatorx Pharmaceuticals has initiated enrollment in its Phase 3 trial of cefepime/VNRX-5133 in patients with complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs). This Phase 3 clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov - NCT03840148) is a global randomized, double-blind, active controlled, non-inferiority study evaluating the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of cefepime/VNRX-5133 in adults with cUTI, including acute pyelonephritis. The trial will assess the safety and efficacy of cefepime/VNRX-5133 as compared with that of meropenem using clinical cure and microbiological eradication as the primary composite efficacy endpoint. Venatorx expects to enroll 582 patients for this study, and top-line results are expected by the end of 2020.

Venatorx Pharmaceuticals added pharmaceutical industry veterans, Jennifer Ellis, Dr. Paul McGovern and Lauren P. Tornetta, to its development team. These appointments come as the Company continues to advance its portfolio of antibacterial and antiviral assets through their respective pre-clinical and clinical milestones.

Venatorx Pharmaceuticals today announced that it was named one of the “2019 Best Places to Work” in the Greater Philadelphia area by the Philadelphia Business Journal for the second year in a row. Headquartered in the Philadelphia suburbs of Malvern, Pennsylvania, Venatorx has nearly doubled its headcount over the past year and is actively seeking motivated, passionate and entrepreneurial-minded professionals for open positions in Quality Assurance, Operations, Discovery, and Development to support its aggressive strategic growth plan.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) will collaborate with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Malvern, Pennsylvania, to develop a novel antibiotic to treat infections caused by bacteria resistant to currently available agents.