YONKERS, N.Y., Feb. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 that Jane E. Ambler, Ph.D. has been appointed as Vice President of Clinical Microbiology. Dr. Ambler will lead the the Company’s microbiology efforts in support of the pivotal Phase 3 DISRUPT (Direct Lysis of Staph aureus Resistant Pathogen Trial) superiority study of exebacase in patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, including right-sided endocarditis and in advancement of the Company’s pipeline of DLAs. Dr. Ambler has over 25 years of experience in clinical laboratory microbiology and antimicrobial drug development, and she has numerous book and journal publications.
“I’m thrilled that Jane is joining the ContraFect team. As a recognized leader in clinical microbiology, she brings a depth of knowledge, wealth of experience and the energy and enthusiasm to move our novel DLA programs forward,” said Cara Cassino, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Research. “Jane is a tremendous addition to our team and will play an integral role in our mission to address the unmet need of improving clinical outcomes for serious bacterial infections and to combat antimicrobial resistance with novel therapeutics.”
“I am excited to join the team at ContraFect. The need for novel therapeutic regimens to overcome the challenge of antimicrobial resistance has never been greater. Traditional antibiotics alone are no longer sufficient and a new approach is sorely needed. ContraFect is poised to disrupt the antimicrobial arena with its novel therapeutic modalities, and I look forward to helping the company advance them,” said Dr. Ambler, Vice President of Clinical Microbiology.
Prior to joining ContraFect, Dr. Ambler served as Vice President of Clinical Microbiology at Wockhardt Pharmaceuticals Inc., where she was responsible for clinical microbiology across multiple antimicrobial programs, including nafithromycin, cefepime-zidebactam, cefepime/tazobactam and Emrok (levonadifloxacin), which was recently approved in India. Prior to this, Dr. Ambler was the Senior Director of Clinical Microbiology at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where she led the clinical microbiology team with responsibility for legacy antibiotics Cubicin and Dificid, and the European approvals of Sivextro and Zerbaxa. Prior to Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Dr. Ambler served in various roles of increasing responsibility at AstraZeneca (US), Bayer (US, Germany and UK) and Smithkline Beecham (UK). She received her Ph.D. from The School of Pharmacy at the University of London, United Kingdom.
About ContraFect:
ContraFect is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing differentiated biologic therapies for life-threatening, drug-resistant infectious diseases, particularly those treated in hospital settings. 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 new class of DLAs, which exhibit broad-spectrum activity against a wide range of antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative pathogens, including Pseudomonas 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 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (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.
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