ALAMEDA, Calif., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Cerexa Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing novel anti-infective therapies for the treatment of serious, antibiotic-resistant infections, today announced the appointment of George H. Talbot, M.D., to the position of Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President.
Dr. Talbot is an accomplished infectious diseases specialist with more than 25 years of pharmaceutical industry and medical experience and has played a key strategic role in the company’s clinical development programs since their inception. As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Talbot will be responsible for managing all of Cerexa’s research and development efforts and will continue to focus on Cerexa’s lead compound, ceftaroline, as well as on the company’s growing portfolio of anti-infective products.
“We are extremely delighted to have Dr. Talbot join the management team as we advance the development of ceftaroline and other novel therapies for the treatment of serious infections,” said Dennis Podlesak, Cerexa’s Chief Executive Officer. “Dr. Talbot brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in antibacterial drug development that, combined with his recognized leadership and expertise in the infectious diseases field, will be highly complementary to the Cerexa team.”
Dr. Talbot commented: “This is an exciting time for me to be joining Cerexa. Having been involved with patient care, and especially the treatment of severe, drug-resistant infections, I’m privileged to join Cerexa, a company dedicated to the identification and development of life-saving anti-infective drugs.”
Prior to joining Cerexa, Dr. Talbot held positions of increasing responsibility in the Anti-Infectives Division of Aventis Pharmaceuticals and its predecessor company, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Pharmaceuticals, culminating in his appointment as interim Therapeutic Area Head and Vice President. More recently, Dr. Talbot founded Talbot Advisors LLC, which provided strategic consultative services to pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies in the area of anti-infective drug development. In this role, Dr. Talbot worked on numerous antibiotic NDAs and global product registrations. Dr. Talbot is an Advisor to the Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Subcommittee of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and was a founding member of the Antimicrobial Availability Task Force of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He has published many scientific papers in the area of nosocomial infection and new drug development.
Dr. Talbot is a graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine. He completed his training in internal medicine and infectious diseases in the University of Pennsylvania hospital system and then assumed successive faculty positions in the Infectious Diseases Section of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
About Ceftaroline
Ceftaroline acetate is a member of the cephalosporin class of antibiotics, the most frequently prescribed class of antibiotics in the world. Unlike marketed cephalosporins, ceftaroline exhibits in vitro bactericidal activity against the most resistant strains of gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Ceftaroline has also demonstrated in vitro bactericidal activity against penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae and common gram-negative bacteria. In preclinical studies and clinical trials to date, ceftaroline demonstrated a favorable safety profile, similar to that of existing cephalosporins. Cerexa licensed from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited the exclusive right to develop and commercialize ceftaroline in all countries worldwide except Japan.
About Cerexa
Cerexa Inc. is an innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company based in Alameda, Calif., focused on discovering, developing and commercializing a growing portfolio of novel anti-infective therapies for the treatment of serious, antibiotic-resistant infections. For more information, visit www.cerexa.com .
Media Contacts: Stan Abel David Schull Cerexa Noonan Russo 510-747-3911 858-546-4810 seabel@cerexa.comdavid.schull@eurorscg.com
Cerexa Inc.
CONTACT: Stan Abel of Cerexa Inc., +1-510-747-3911, seabel@cerexa.com; orDavid Schull of Noonan Russo, +1-858-546-4810, david.schull@eurorscg.com,for Cerexa Inc.
