SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sept. 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Achaogen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAO), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative antibacterials addressing multi-drug resistant (MDR) gram-negative infections, today announced the addition of Ms. Liz Bhatt as Chief Business Officer effective today. Ms. Bhatt will report to Blake Wise, Achaogen’s President and Chief Operating Officer.
“Liz is an important hire for Achaogen as we advance our promising pipeline,” said Wise. “Through strong collaborative relationships and excellent negotiation skills, Liz has built a successful corporate development career that has resulted in transactions of various types and complexities. We are thrilled to welcome Liz to the team.”
Ms. Bhatt brings to Achaogen more than 20 years of experience in corporate development and strategy in the biopharmaceutical industry. Most recently, Ms. Bhatt held the position of Vice President, Corporate Development at Gilead Sciences where she was responsible for executing licenses, acquisitions and collaborations across all of Gilead’s therapeutic areas. While at Gilead, she also led long-term global commercial and strategic planning for Gilead’s antiviral and respiratory franchises. Before Gilead, Ms. Bhatt held corporate development and strategy roles at Eli Lilly and Maxygen.
Ms. Bhatt earned a B.A. in Chemistry from Pomona College, an M.S. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California at San Diego, and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
“My passion is to help build innovative businesses like Achaogen’s antibacterial franchise and to improve the lives of patients with serious infections and diseases. I’m both honored and excited to join Achaogen at this critical time as it readies itself for the potential launch of plazomicin, and to bring improved treatment options to patients,” said Ms. Bhatt. “I look forward to applying my expertise and working with the team to unlock the value of Achaogen’s pipeline and to supporting the overall long-term growth objectives of the company.”
About Achaogen
Achaogen is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company passionately committed to the discovery, development, and commercialization of innovative antibacterial treatments for MDR gram-negative infections. Achaogen is developing plazomicin, its lead product candidate, for the treatment of serious bacterial infections due to MDR Enterobacteriaceae, including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. The Food and Drug Administration has granted plazomicin Breakthrough Therapy designation for the treatment of bloodstream infections caused by certain Enterobacteriaceae in patients who have limited or no alternative treatment options. Achaogen’s plazomicin program is funded in part with a contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. The Company’s second product candidate is C-Scape, an orally-administered beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combination. Achaogen has other programs in early and late preclinical stages focused on other MDR gram-negative infections and additional disease areas. All product candidates are investigational only and have not been approved for commercialization. For more information, please visit www.achaogen.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained herein are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, Achaogen’s expectations regarding potential regulatory approval of plazomicin, Achaogen’s commercial objectives and Achaogen’s pipeline of product candidates. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause Achaogen's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainties inherent in the preclinical and clinical development process; the risks and uncertainties of the regulatory approval process; the risks and uncertainties of commercialization and gaining market acceptance; the risk when bacteria will evolve resistance to plazomicin; Achaogen's reliance on third-party contract manufacturing organizations to manufacture and supply its product candidates and certain raw materials used in the production thereof; risk of third party claims alleging infringement of patents and proprietary rights or seeking to invalidate Achaogen's patents or proprietary rights; and the risk that Achaogen's proprietary rights may be insufficient to protect its technologies and product candidates. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward- looking statements, as well as risks relating to Achaogen's business in general, see Achaogen's current and future reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2017. Achaogen does not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.
Contacts:
David Arrington, Media
Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
650.440.5856
darrington@achaogen.com
Ashley Robinson, Investors
617.775.5956
arr@lifesciadvisors.com