ContraFect Corporation
(Nasdaq:CFRX), a clinical-stage biotechnology
company focused on the discovery and development of direct lytic
agents (DLAs), including lysins and amurin peptides, as new medical
modalities for the treatment of life-threatening,
antibiotic-resistant infections, today announced the appointment of
Lishan Aklog, M.D. to the Company’s board of directors (Board). Dr.
Aklog is Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PAVmed
Inc. (Nasdaq: PAVM). He specialized in cardiothoracic surgery to
begin his medical career.
“Dr. Aklog has a long history of successful
leadership and innovation in the healthcare industry, in addition
to his expertise in cardiovascular disease and complications,” said
Roger J. Pomerantz, M.D., President, Chief Executive Officer, and
Chairman of ContraFect. “As a late-stage company enrolling patients
in our pivotal Phase 3 trial, we are delighted to expand our Board
with a new member who brings a wealth of medical knowledge and a
diversity of experiences to the table.”
“I am excited to join the ContraFect Board at
such an exciting time, following very impressive Phase 2
superiority data on exebacase in patients with MRSA bacteremia, the
initiation of the Phase 3 DISRUPT trial, and the receipt of
Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA,” said Dr. Aklog.
“During my career as a cardiac surgeon I operated on many patients
with MRSA endocarditis. Exebacase has great potential to improve
the care of these and other challenging patients compared to
current suboptimal anti-infective options. I look forward to
working with the company and the Board to bring this therapy to
clinicians and patients as rapidly as possible.”
Dr. Aklog has also served as Executive Chairman
of Lucid Diagnostics Inc. since its inception in 2018, as a
co-founding Partner of both Pavilion Holdings Group LLC (“PHG”), a
medical device holding company, since its inception in 2007, and
Pavilion Medical Innovations LLC, a venture-backed medical device
incubator, since its inception in 2009. Dr. Aklog previously served
as Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of Vortex Medical Inc., a
PHG portfolio company, from its inception in 2008 until its
acquisition in October 2012 by Angiodynamics. Dr. Aklog has served
as a consultant and on the advisory boards of many major medical
device companies as well as innovative startups.
Dr. Aklog is an inventor on 25 issued patents
and over 45 patent applications, including the core patents of
Vortex Medical’s AngioVac® system and the patents for a majority of
PAVmed Inc.’s products. Prior to entering the medical device
industry full-time in 2012, Dr. Aklog was, from 2006 to 2012,
Associate Professor of Surgery, Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery and
Chair of The Cardiovascular Center at St. Joseph’s Hospital and
Medical Center’s Heart and Lung Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. From
2002 to 2006, Dr. Aklog was Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic
Surgery, Associate Chief of Cardiac Surgery and Director of
Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in
New York. From 1999 to 2002, Dr. Aklog was Assistant Professor of
Surgery at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Cardiac Surgery
Research Laboratory, and an attending cardiac surgeon at Brigham
and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Dr. Aklog received his clinical training in
general and cardiothoracic surgery, and served as Chief Resident,
at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital of
the Harvard Medical School, during which he spent two years as the
Medtronic Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School’s Cardiac
Surgery Research Laboratory. He was then awarded the American
Association of Thoracic Surgery Traveling Fellowship pursuant to
which he received advanced training in heart valve surgery under
renowned cardiac surgeons Sir Magdi Yacoub at Harefield Hospital in
London and Professor Alain Carpentier at L’Hopital Broussais in
Paris.
About DISRUPT:
The Phase 3 DISRUPT study of exebacase is a
randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study
conducted in the U.S. to assess the efficacy and safety of
exebacase in approximately 350 patients with complicated Staph
aureus bacteremia, including right-sided endocarditis. Patients
enrolled in the Phase 3 study will be randomized 2:1 to receive
either exebacase or placebo, with all patients receiving SOC
antibiotics. The primary efficacy endpoint will be clinical
response at Day 14 in patients with MRSA bacteremia, including
right-sided endocarditis. Secondary endpoints will include clinical
response at Day 14 in the All Staph aureus patients (MRSA and
methicillin-sensitive Staph aureus (MSSA)), 30-day all-cause
mortality in MRSA patients, and clinical response at Day 30 and Day
60 in both MRSA and All Staph aureus patients. Health resource
utilization, including length of hospital stay, length of time in
ICU and 30-day hospital readmission rates, will also be evaluated.
The Company plans to conduct an interim futility analysis following
the enrollment of approximately 60% of the study population. The
principal investigator is Dr. Vance Fowler, Professor of Medicine
in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Duke University.
About ContraFect:
ContraFect is a biotechnology company focused on
the discovery and development of direct lytic agents (DLAs),
including lysins and amurin peptides, as new medical modalities for
the treatment of life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infections.
An estimated 700,000 deaths worldwide each year are attributed to
antimicrobial-resistant infections. We intend to address life
threatening infections using our therapeutic product candidates
from our platform of DLAs, which include lysins and amurin
peptides. Lysins are a new class of DLAs which are recombinantly
produced antimicrobial proteins with a novel mechanism of action
associated with the rapid killing of target bacteria, eradication
of biofilms and synergy with conventional antibiotics. Amurin
peptides are a novel class of DLAs which exhibit broad-spectrum
activity against a wide range of antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative
pathogens, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa),
Acinetobacter baumannii, and Enterobacter species. We believe that
the properties of our lysins and amurin peptides will make them
suitable for targeting antibiotic-resistant organisms, such as MRSA
and P. aeruginosa, which can cause serious infections such as
bacteremia, pneumonia and osteomyelitis. We have completed a Phase
2 clinical trial for the treatment of Staph aureus bacteremia,
including endocarditis, with our lead lysin candidate, exebacase,
which is the first lysin to enter clinical studies in the U.S.
Exebacase, currently being studied in a pivotal Phase 3 clinical
study, was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the FDA for
the treatment of MRSA bloodstream infections (bacteremia),
including right-sided endocarditis, when used in addition to
standard-of-care anti-staphylococcal antibiotics in adult
patients.
Follow ContraFect on Twitter @ContraFectCorp and
LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking
Statements:
This press release contains, and our officers
and representatives may make from time to time, “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities
laws. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words
such as “projects,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,”
“believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “intends,”
“plans,” “potential,” “promise” or similar references to future
periods. Examples of forward-looking statements in this release
include, without limitation, statements regarding ContraFect’s
ability to discover and develop DLAs as new medical modalities for
the treatment of life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infections,
statements made by Dr. Pomerantz and Dr. Aklog, including Dr.
Aklog’s background and experience, statements regarding the Phase 2
and 3 trials, including plans to conduct an interim futility
analysis, ContraFect’s ability to address life threatening
infections using its DLA platform, whether lysins are a new
class of DLAs which are recombinantly produced, antimicrobial
proteins with a novel mechanism of action associated with the rapid
killing of target bacteria, eradication of biofilms and synergy
with conventional antibiotics, whether amurins exhibit
broad-spectrum activity against a wide range of
antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative pathogens, and whether the
properties of ContraFect’s lysins and amurins will make them
suitable for targeting antibiotic-resistant organisms, such as MRSA
and P. aeruginosa. Forward-looking statements are statements that
are not historical facts, nor assurances of future performance.
Instead, they are based on ContraFect’s current beliefs,
expectations and assumptions regarding the future of its business,
future plans, strategies, projections, anticipated events and
trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because
forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject
to inherent risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that
are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond ContraFect’s
control, including those detailed under the caption “Risk Factors”
in ContraFect's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Actual results may differ from those set forth in
the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause
actual results to differ include, among others, our ability to
develop treatments for drug-resistant infectious diseases. Any
forward-looking statement made by ContraFect in this press release
is based only on information currently available and speaks only as
of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable
law, ContraFect expressly disclaims any obligations to publicly
update any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral,
that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new
information, future developments or otherwise. Investor
Relations Contacts:
Michael MessingerContraFect CorporationTel:
914-207-2300Email: mmessinger@contrafect.com
Carlo TanziKendall Investor RelationsTel:
617-914-0008Email: ctanzi@kendallir.com
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