Tetraphase
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTPH) today announced the appointment
of Craig Thompson to the position of Chief Operating Officer, effective
immediately. In his new role, Mr. Thompson, who most recently served as
Chief Commercial Officer for Trius Therapeutics, will be responsible for
leading Tetraphase’s commercial operations, including business
development and licensing, commercial planning and early marketing
initiatives for eravacycline, Tetraphase’s lead, late-stage antibiotic
candidate. Tetraphase is developing eravacycline and a pipeline of
early-stage antibiotic candidates to combat the growing public health
threats from resistant Gram-negative infections.
“Craig is a talented and influential brand strategist with a wealth of
experience in antibiotics, corporate strategy and operations,” said Guy
Macdonald, President and CEO of Tetraphase. “His proven abilities in the
development and marketing of pharmaceutical products, combined with his
strong business development, planning and leadership skills, strengthen
Tetraphase’s senior management team at an important time in the
company’s evolution. We expect him to add significant value to the
company as we work to maximize the global commercial potential for
eravacycline through partnering and business development efforts and
execute our commercial activities in preparation for a U.S. launch.”
Mr. Thompson brings nearly 24 years of experience in the pharmaceutical
and healthcare industries to Tetraphase, with a proven track record of
product development, global brand management, product positioning, and
domestic and international pharmaceutical sales, including the strategic
marketing of many industry-leading drugs. While serving as Chief
Commercial Officer for Trius Therapeutics, he was instrumental in the
sale of Trius to Cubist Pharmaceuticals in September 2013. Prior to
Trius, Mr. Thompson served in various global and U.S. commercial roles
at Pfizer Inc., ultimately serving as Vice President of Marketing for
Pfizer's Specialty Care Business Unit, where he was directly responsible
for the U.S. commercial strategy for a portfolio of products with more
than $1.5 billion in annual U.S. sales. From 1992 to 2003, Mr. Thompson
served in positions of increasing responsibility at Merck & Co., Inc.,
where he most notably worked on commercial planning and marketing
activities for the company's anti-infectives as well as on major
cardiovascular brands. Mr. Thompson holds a Bachelor's degree in
Commerce from McMaster University and an M.B.A. from the University of
Notre Dame.
Mr. Thompson commented on his appointment: “Eravacycline’s unique
characteristics make it an important new antibiotic candidate in
late-stage development in the Gram-negative space. These include the
potential for best-in-class activity against a broad spectrum of
multidrug-resistant bacteria and the potential for availability in both
IV and oral formulations. Eravacycline, along with the company’s
proprietary drug discovery platform technology, make Tetraphase an
exceptional opportunity that I look forward to being a part of.”
About Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Tetraphase is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company using its
proprietary chemistry technology to create novel antibiotics for serious
and life-threatening multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections,
including many of the MDR Gram-negative bacteria highlighted as urgent
public health threats by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). Tetraphase's lead product candidate, eravacycline, is a fully
synthetic tetracycline derivative being developed as a broad-spectrum
intravenous and oral antibiotic for use as a first-line empiric
monotherapy. Tetraphase has created more than 3,000 novel tetracycline
analogs using its technology platform; in addition to eravacycline,
Tetraphase has generated multiple preclinical antibiotic candidates that
are currently being evaluated for clinical suitability.
Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about our future expectations,
plans and prospects, including statements regarding our strategy, future
operations, prospects, plans and objectives, and other statements
containing the words “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “plans,”
“will” and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements
within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such
forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors,
including: whether our cash resources will be sufficient to fund
our continuing operations through the end of 2015; whether results
obtained in preclinical studies and early clinical trials will be
indicative of results obtained in future clinical trials; whether
eravacycline will advance through the clinical trial process on a timely
basis and receive approval from the United States Food and Drug
Administration or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies; whether, if
eravacycline obtains approval, it will be successfully distributed and
marketed; and other factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of
our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission on November 14, 2013. In addition, the
forward-looking statements included in this press release represent our
views as of February 4, 2014. We anticipate that subsequent events and
developments will cause our views to change. However, while we may elect
to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future,
we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so.
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