MALVERN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Venatorx Pharmaceuticals today announced that Robert Waltermire, Ph.D. has joined the Company as Senior Vice President, Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls. With over 30 years of experience in CMC development and commercialization, Dr. Waltermire will be responsible for all CMC across Venatorx’s portfolio including drug substance and drug product activities from preclinical development through clinical supplies for Phase 3 registration studies and eventual transition to commercial supply.

“We are thrilled to have Rob join our team at this exciting inflection point in Venatorx’s history,” said Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D., President and CEO of Venatorx. “Rob’s broad experience, from pre-clinical and clinical development through large scale manufacturing processes, will be invaluable for our antibiotic and antiviral programs.”

Prior to joining Venatorx, Dr. Waltermire was Senior Vice President, Product Development at Palatin Technologies where he led a global team to deliver on all aspects of the generation of knowledge and product for both clinical development and commercial sale. Previously, Dr. Waltermire was Vice President Chemical & Synthetic Development at Bristol-Myers Squibb where he led a global team of scientists and engineers responsible for the design and development of synthetic routes, processes and all analytical methodologies for small molecule and millamolecule drug candidates. The team utilized the fundamentals of analytical chemistry, chemical engineering and organic chemistry, modelling and simulation, real time analytics, and high throughput laboratory automation screening tools to deliver well characterized processes for the efficient synthesis of millamolecular and small molecule drug candidates.

Dr. Waltermire received his B.S. in chemistry from Franklin and Marshall College. Dr. Waltermire’s graduate training in organic chemistry was performed under the direction of Professor Philip DeShong at both The Pennsylvania State University, and The University of Maryland from where he received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1989. Dr. Waltermire has authored 20 publications and 2 invited book chapters and is named as an inventor on 8 patents.

“This is a transformative time at Venatorx,” said Dr. Waltermire. “I am delighted to have the opportunity to bring my expertise with process development, manufacturing and commercialization to successfully execute the company’s strategy for its anti-infective portfolio.”

About Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Venatorx Pharmaceuticals is a private pharmaceutical company focused on improving health outcomes for patients with multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections and hard-to-treat viral infections. For more information, please visit www.venatorx.com.