WATERTOWN, Mass., July 15, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:TTPH), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel antibiotics to treat life-threatening multidrug-resistant (MDR) infections, today announced the appointment of Jacques Dumas, Ph.D. as Chief Scientific Officer.
“We are happy to have Jacques join the company at an important and exciting time for Tetraphase,” said Guy Macdonald, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tetraphase. “As our lead antibiotic candidate, eravacycline, nears completion of its phase 3 clinical program, the appointment of Jacques underscores our continuing commitment to drug discovery. The talented research team at Tetraphase has successfully directed this effort and we believe we can leverage our expertise and intellectual property under Jacques’ strategic leadership. Jacques has a proven track record in drug discovery as a medicinal chemist as well as extensive experience supporting antibacterial research programs.”
Dr. Dumas joins Tetraphase from Merck Research Laboratories where he served as Vice President, Idenix, related to his prior role as Chief Scientific Officer at Idenix Pharmaceuticals. From 2007 to 2014, Jacques worked for AstraZeneca, most recently as Vice President and Head of Strategy, Infection Innovative Medicines. In this role, he was responsible for disease area strategy and external collaborations for AstraZeneca’s small molecule infectious disease unit. Prior to AstraZeneca, Jacques worked at Bayer Healthcare for 15 years, most recently as Director of Medicinal Chemistry. Jacques received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Paris IV University in France and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University.
Inducement Equity Awards
Additionally, Tetraphase’s Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors approved, pursuant to Rule 5635(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Global Select Market, options to two new employees to purchase, in the aggregate, 175,000 shares of Tetraphase’s common stock. Each option was granted as an inducement equity award outside Tetraphase’s 2013 Stock Incentive Plan and was made as an inducement material to the new employees’ acceptance of employment with Tetraphase. Each option grant has an exercise price equal to the closing price of Tetraphase’s common stock on the first day of their respective employment. Each option has a ten-year term and vests over four years, with 25% of the original number of shares vesting on the one-year anniversary of the hire date and an additional 6.25% of the original number of shares vesting at the end of each successive quarter thereafter, subject to the new employees’ continued service with Tetraphase through the applicable vesting dates.
About Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Tetraphase is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company using its proprietary chemistry technology to create novel antibiotics for serious and life-threatening MDR bacterial infections, including those caused by many of the MDR Gram-negative bacteria highlighted as urgent public health threats by the CDC. Tetraphase has created more than 3,000 novel tetracycline analogs using its proprietary technology platform. Tetraphase’s pipeline includes eravacycline, a broad-spectrum intravenous and oral antibiotic that is being evaluated in phase 3 clinical trials, and two preclinical antibiotic candidates, TP-271 and TP-6076. Please visit www.tphase.com for more company information.
Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about our future expectations, plans and prospects, including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, prospects, plans and objectives, and other statements containing the words “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “plans,” “will” and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: whether results obtained in preclinical studies and early or interim clinical trials will be indicative of results obtained in future clinical trials; whether eravacycline will advance through the clinical trial process on a timely basis; whether the results of the Company’s trials will warrant regulatory submission and receive approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies; whether, if eravacycline obtains approval, it will be successfully distributed and marketed; and other factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of our quarterly report on Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 7, 2015. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent our views as of July 15, 2015. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. However, while we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so.
CONTACT: Investor Contacts: Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Teri Dahlman 617-600-7040 tdahlman@tphase.com Argot Partners Susan Kim 212-600-1902 susan@argotpartners.com Media Contact: Sam Brown Inc. Mike Beyer 773-463-4211 beyer@sambrown.com
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