Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Appoints Tom Kassberg Chief Business Officer
NEW HAVEN, Conn., Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a
development-stage company focused on the discovery, development and
commercialization of novel antibiotics for the treatment of acute care
antibiotic-resistant infections, announced today that Thomas R. Kassberg has
joined the company as Chief Business Officer. In his new role, Mr. Kassberg
will lead the company's business development activities.
Mr. Kassberg, age 49, joins Rib-X from Proteolix, Inc., where he served as
Executive Vice President of Corporate Development, overseeing business
development, corporate strategic planning and legal affairs. Prior to
Proteolix, Mr. Kassberg had over a decade of experience in leadership roles in
business development in the biotechnology industry, holding positions at
InterMune, Inc., Plexxikon, Inc. (a company he co-founded), and SUGEN, Inc.
Mr. Kassberg began his career at Bristol-Myers Squibb where he held a variety
of positions in finance, product and market analysis, and sales. Mr. Kassberg
received his M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at
Northwestern University and his B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College in
Minnesota.
"Tom joins Rib-X at a particularly important time in our growth, as we explore
potential partnership opportunities for our lead antibiotic compounds,
delafloxacin and radezolid, which have successfully completed multiple Phase 2
clinical trials," said Susan Froshauer, PhD, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Rib-X Pharmaceuticals. "His business development experience and
background are an ideal fit for what we need at this stage in our maturation."
About Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a product-driven small molecule drug discovery
and development company focused on the structure-based design of new classes
of antibiotics. The Company's underlying drug discovery engine capitalizes on
its proprietary high-resolution crystal structure of the ribosome, which
performs an essential role in protein synthesis. Many known, commercially
valuable antibiotics exert their effects by binding to the bacterial ribosome.
The Company's integrated research strategy, which combines state-of-the-art,
proprietary computational analysis, X-ray crystallography, medicinal
chemistry, microbiology and biochemistry, allows it to rapidly synthesize new
agents designed to avoid typical antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Rib-X's
iterative intelligent engine has yielded several distinctive new antibiotics
that can be used for the treatment of either community- or hospital-acquired
infections. In addition to Rx-04, Rib-X has successfully completed Phase 2
trials with delafloxacin (RX-3341), a broad spectrum fluoroquinolone with
potent activity against quinolone resistant Gram-positive bacteria including
MRSA. Radezolid (RX-1741), an oxazolidinone that was discovered at Rib-X, as
an oral/IV agent for treatment of serious Gram-positive infections has
completed two Phase 2 trials and the Rx-02 discovery program which is focused
on developing an IV/oral macrolide active against methicillin-resistant S.
aureus, multidrug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae and S. pyogenes. Both
delafloxacin and radezolid are currently in late stage clinical trials.
For more information on the Rib-X mission and the pipeline, please visit the
Company website at www.rib-x.com.
SOURCE Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Media: Irma Gomez-Dib, FD Life Sciences, +1-212-850-5761,
[email protected], or Investors: John Capodanno, FD Life Sciences,
+1-212-850-5705, [email protected], both for Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc