Venatorx Pharmaceuticals Names Mary Beth Dorr, Ph.D. Vice President, Clinical Science

MALVERN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Venatorx Pharmaceuticals today announced that Mary Beth Dorr, Ph.D. has joined the Company as Vice President, Clinical Science. With over 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceuticals industry, Dr. Dorr will be responsible for planning and executing clinical development across Venatorx’s anti-infectives portfolio including its two antibacterial programs, cefepime-taniborbactam and ceftibuten/VNRX-7145, as well as its antiviral program, VNRX-9945, a Hepatitis B virus inhibitor.

“With three clinical-stage programs and a robust discovery pipeline, it’s vital for us to continue to attract the best and brightest talent to Venatorx,” said the company’s President and CEO, Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D. “Dr. Dorr has devoted her career to drug development, designing and implementing Phase 1 to Phase 4 clinical trials primarily for anti-infective products at both big—and small—pharmaceutical companies. We are thrilled to have her join our team given her extraordinary track record.”

Prior to joining Venatorx, Dr. Dorr was Product Development Team Leader and Clinical Lead, Infectious Diseases at Merck where her primary responsibility was leading the clinical development for ZINPLAVA (bezlotoxumab), a monoclonal antibody that binds to and neutralizes C. difficile toxin B. She additionally led the development teams for DIFICID (fidaxomicin), a macrolide antibiotic for treatment of C. difficile, and CUBICIN (daptomycin), a lipopeptide antibiotic for serious Gram-positive bacterial infections. Prior to Merck, Dr. Dorr was Senior Director, Global Medical Affairs at Wyeth where she was the program leader for Phase 4 trials supporting women’s healthcare and gastrointestinal therapeutic areas, and served as Pandemic Preparedness Advisor.

In addition to her big pharma experience, Dr. Dorr served as the development team project manager at Vicuron Pharmaceuticals for dalbavancin, a novel intravenous antibiotic for the treatment of serious Gram-positive bacterial infections. Prior to Vicuron, she had several roles at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer. As a senior research scientist, Dr. Dorr was responsible for clinical pharmacokinetic development for a quinolone antibiotic, ZAGAM (sparfloxacin), and subsequently joined the clinical research group where she managed Phase 1 and 3 trials for ZAGAM and several Phase 3b trials for SYNERCID (quinupristin/dalfopristin), an antibiotic for serious Gram-positive infections. She also worked at Parke-Davis where she was responsible for the design and implementation of preclinical and clinical pharmacokinetic research for several quinolone antibiotics.

“I have a passion for the infectious disease space, which has been amplified by the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Dorr. “I am excited for the path that lies ahead as Venatorx is focused on addressing the next potential public health crisis of antimicrobial resistance. I look forward to working with my new colleagues to bring the company’s novel class of antibiotics and antivirals from the ‘bench to bedside’.”

Dr. Dorr received her B.S., Pharmacy from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia; her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics with an emphasis on pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., and completed a clinical pharmacy residency at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Philadelphia.

About Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Founded in 2010, Venatorx Pharmaceuticals is a private, clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on improving health outcomes for patients with multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections and hard-to-treat viral infections. Venatorx has built a world-class in-house research and development organization that has filed over 120 patents. Venatorx’s two lead antibacterial clinical-stage programs are intravenous (cefepime-taniborbactam) and oral (ceftibuten/VNRX-7145) broad-spectrum beta-lactam / beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations that are in Phase 3 and Phase 1, respectively. In addition, Venatorx is in Phase 1 with its first antiviral compound (VNRX-9945), a Hepatitis B virus inhibitor. The Company is also developing a novel class of non-beta-lactam antibiotics called Penicillin Binding Protein (PBP) inhibitors that have the potential to circumvent 70+ years of resistance and usher in a new wave of antibacterial therapeutics. For more information about Venatorx, its partners, investors and pipeline development, please visit www.venatorx.com.