SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 15, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Achaogen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAO), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel antibacterials addressing multi-drug resistant (MDR) gram-negative infections, today announced the addition of Mr. Gary Loeb as General Counsel, effective today. Mr. Loeb will serve as Achaogen’s general counsel and will report to Kenneth Hillan, Chief Executive Officer and President.
“Gary is an accomplished life sciences general counsel and an experienced leader, and we are delighted to have him join the Achaogen team,” said Kenneth Hillan. “As we enter the next critical phase of our growth, we will benefit from the breadth of Gary’s experience and insights including many aspects of intellectual property and drug development through to commercialization.”
Mr. Loeb has more than 15 years of legal affairs experience related to intellectual property, corporate governance, compliance, and business development in the biotechnology industry. Most recently, Mr. Loeb has been General Counsel and Corporate Secretary and on the executive team at three life sciences companies, Amyris, Inc., Counsyl, and most recently Sano Intelligence. Previously, Mr. Loeb spent eleven years at Genentech most recently as Vice President, Intellectual Property, where he oversaw 90 employees in the areas of litigation, patent prosecution, corporate records and technology licensing.
Mr. Loeb received his B.S. in Biology and B.A. in English from Stanford University in California and his J.D. from Columbia Law School in New York. He clerked in the Northern District of Texas for several years and practiced commercial and intellectual property law in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California.
Since 2006, Mr. Loeb has been an adjunct professor at University of San Francisco Law School. He is currently on the Board of Directors for Project Open Hand, a nonprofit organization that provides meals to critically ill neighbors and seniors, and Columbia Law School.
"I am impressed with the research and development rigor behind Achaogen’s pipeline opportunities and their unique antibody discovery platform, and I believe that plazomicin has significant promise for the treatment of resistant gram-negative infections,” said Mr. Loeb. “I am excited to join the Achaogen leadership team and support the continued advancement of the company.”
About Achaogen
Achaogen is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company passionately committed to the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel antibacterials to treat MDR gram-negative infections. Achaogen is developing plazomicin, Achaogen’s lead product candidate, for the treatment of serious bacterial infections due to MDR Enterobacteriaceae, including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Achaogen’s plazomicin program is funded in part with a contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Plazomicin is the first clinical candidate from Achaogen’s gram-negative antibiotic discovery engine, and Achaogen has other programs in early and late preclinical stages focused on other MDR gram-negative infections. 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 Achaogen’s ability to leverage Mr. Loeb’s experience and expertise in Achaogen’s next phase of growth. 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 risk of failure to successfully validate, develop and obtain regulatory clearance or approval for the in vitro diagnostic (IVD) assay for plazomicin; the risks and uncertainties of the regulatory approval process; the risks and uncertainties of commercialization and gaining market acceptance; the risk that bacteria may evolve resistance to plazomicin; risks and uncertainties as to Achaogen's ability to raise additional capital to support the development of plazomicin and its other programs; uncertainties regarding the availability of adequate third-party coverage and reimbursement for newly approved products; Achaogen's reliance on third parties to conduct certain preclinical studies and all of its clinical trials; 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; Achaogen's dependence on its President and Chief Executive Officer; risks and uncertainties related to the acceptance of government funding for certain of Achaogen's programs, including the risk that BARDA could terminate Achaogen's contract for the funding of the plazomicin development program; 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 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2016, and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. 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.
Source: Achaogen, Inc.