WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--X-Biotix Therapeutics, Inc. (X-Biotix), a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of multiple novel antibiotic first in class compounds targeting multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative pathogens, announced the appointment of industry veteran, Michael W. Bonney to the company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Bonney brings extensive strategic, operational, commercial and leadership experience in the biotechnology industry. In addition, the company highlighted its distinguished group of scientific and strategic advisors.
“I am extremely pleased that we are expanding the Board of Directors with the addition of Mike Bonney, who has already contributed tremendous value to the company as a Strategic Advisor,” said Ramani Varanasi, President & CEO. “Mike’s extensive experience as a corporate executive, leading the successful development and commercialization of antibiotics, will help X-Biotix efficiently translate our discoveries into valuable clinical programs to meet the urgent need for new medicines for infectious diseases.”
Mr. Bonney serves as the Executive Chair of the Board of Kaleido Biosciences, a clinical-stage healthcare company leveraging the microbiome organ to treat disease and improve human health. Previously, he was chief executive officer and director of Cubist Pharmaceuticals from 2003 until 2014. Under his leadership, Cubist grew into a leading antibiotic company and was acquired by Merck in early 2015 for $9.5 billion. Prior to Cubist, Mr. Bonney was vice president of sales and marketing at Biogen, where he built the company’s commercial infrastructure for the launch of its first product. Before joining Biogen, he spent 11 years at Zeneca Pharmaceuticals in a range of commercial, operating and strategic roles, including National Business Director.
Mr. Bonney chairs the boards of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Magenta Therapeutics and serves on the board of Bristol Myers Squibb. He was an advisor to Prime Minister David Cameron’s Commission on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and was involved in the creation of the U.S. GAIN Act (enacted in the US in 2012 to encourage investment in antimicrobials with activity against drug-resistant bacteria). Mr. Bonney was a regional winner and national finalist in 2013 in the life science segment of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year and was one of six executives nationwide named as Marketwatch’s CEO of the Year in 2011. He received his undergraduate degree in Economics from Bates College.
“With the recent COVID-19 outbreak, there is a growing awareness of the associated secondary bacterial infections that have a major role in contributing to severe illness and patient deaths and the realization that antibacterials have a prominent role in the treatment of these infections. X-Biotix is one of the few companies that is developing a truly novel class of antibiotics, which is a critical unmet need in the field of infectious diseases,” said Mr. Bonney. “I look forward to supporting the team in developing effective antibiotics against the most serious multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative pathogens, and in further building the value of the company.”
“X-Biotix is also honored to highlight an esteemed group of Scientific and Strategic Advisors who have deep expertise in the discovery, development and commercialization of anti-infectives,” said Ramani Varanasi, President & CEO. “Many of these experts have joined our advisory board within the last year and we are extremely grateful for their contributions.”
Scientific Advisors:
- John Mekalanos, Ph.D., Co-Founder, Chair of Scientific Advisory Board, Professor Department of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School
- Thomas G. Bernhardt, Ph.D., Co-Founder, Professor Department of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School, HHMI Investigator
- Stephen Lory, Ph.D., Co-Founder, Professor Department of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School
- Thomas Dougherty, Ph.D., Department Microbiology, Harvard Medical School
- William P. Robins, Ph.D., Department Microbiology, Harvard Medical School
Clinical, Regulatory and Commercial Advisors:
- Paul Ambrose, Pharm.D., Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Advisor - President of the Institute for Clinical Pharmacodynamics
- Lynda Berne, Commercial Advisor - Managing Partner, BAL Pharma Consulting
- Helen Boucher, M.D., Clinical Advisor - Chief, Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Tufts Medical Center; Professor of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine
- Patricia Bradford, Ph.D., Clinical Microbiology Advisor - Antimicrobial Development Specialists, Executive Director, Microbiology & ID, AstraZeneca, Director, Head Applied Sciences ID, Novartis
- Roger Echols, M.D., Clinical Advisor - Principle ID Drug Development Consulting, Prior CMO Replidyne, VP ID Clinical R&D Bristol Myers Squibb
- Ian Friedland, M.D., Clinical Advisor - Prior CMO Achaogen, VP Clinical Development Cubist, CMO Calixa
- Jennifer Jackson, Ph.D., Regulatory Advisor - SVP Regulatory and Quality Tesaro, SVP Regulatory Cubist, VP Regulatory Biogen
- Thomas Lodise, Ph.D., Clinical Pharmacology Advisor - Clinical Pharmacist & Professor, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
- Michael Pollastri, Ph.D., Chemistry Advisor - Chair, Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Northeastern University
About Antimicrobial Resistance and Gram-negative Multi-drug-resistant Infections
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest threats to global health. Without innovation, we risk falling into a post-antimicrobial era in which minor infections will become life threatening, and routine medical procedures will be nearly impossible to perform. Resistant infections cost the US $20B in excess healthcare costs and $35B in lost productivity. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2050, antimicrobial resistance could cause 10 million deaths each year, surpassing the projected number of deaths due to cancer. Notably, antimicrobials have a prominent role in the treatment of secondary bacterial infection complications of viral respiratory infections, such as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Gram-negative multi-drug-resistant infections represent a critical unmet public health need, with over 1.5 million drug resistant infections in the U.S. each year. The landscape for commercialization of novel antibacterial therapies is rapidly evolving, and there remains a large market opportunity for both broad and narrow spectrum agents that target novel pathways that avoid cross-resistance to existing antibiotics. There is a particularly acute need for agents that address multi-drug resistant Gram-negative pathogens implicated in sepsis, hospital and ventilator acquired pneumonia (HAP and VAP), and other complicated hospital-acquired and community-based infections.
About X-Biotix Therapeutics, Inc.
X-Biotix is a discovery and development company, with a focus on delivering the next generation of antibiotics to combat multi-drug resistant Gram-negative pathogens. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is located in Waltham, MA. X-Biotix is advancing multiple first-in-class small molecule compounds, identified using a unique DNA-encoded library platform, against a wide range of bacterial targets in essential pathways, which are predicted to defeat known antibiotics resistance mechanisms. Co-founders of the company include distinguished faculty from Harvard Medical School, with expertise in biological mechanisms of cell envelope biosynthesis, antibiotic resistance and efflux. In July 2019, X-Biotix joined as a member of the Antimicrobials Working Group, a coalition of companies with the mission to combat drug resistant infections and spur life-saving innovation. For further information, please visit: http://www.x-biotixrx.com/
