Global Project Director Karen Gallant appointed to the Joint Oversight Committee

(BOSTON: October 26, 2017) – Karen Gallant, Ph.D., CARB-X’s Global Project Director, has been appointed to CARB-X’s Joint Oversight Committee (JOC), the 10-member governing board of CARB-X, effective October 25, 2017.

“Dr. Gallant’s leadership has been extraordinarily important to CARB-X. Her selection to the JOC was unanimous and enthusiastic,” said Kevin Outterson, J.D., LL.M., Executive Director of CARB-X.

Karen has led contract negotiations with all companies that have received CARB-X awards since CARB-X was established in July 2016, and has put in place a rigorous process to evaluate applications from hundreds of companies around the world. Karen’s industry insight and leadership have been central to CARB-X’s success in building the world’s largest and most diverse early development pipeline to prevent and treat drug-resistant bacterial infections.

Karen is an internationally experienced pharma R&D and business development executive. Prior to joining CARB-X, Karen focused on building AstraZeneca’s rich pipeline of antibiotics through partnerships, in-licensing and M&A. Before AstraZeneca, she spent several years at Novartis leading global project teams to deliver innovative medicines across a number of therapeutic areas. Karen also serves as a mentor to start-ups through the MassConnect program. She has a PhD in Pharmacology with a specialty in Toxicology.

John Rex steps down as CARB-X Chief Strategy Officer

John Rex, M.D. has decided to step down as CARB-X Chief Strategy Officer and as a member of the JOC, effective October 16, 2017, so that he can focus more closely on other pursuits at Wellcome Trust, F2G and Advent Life Sciences.

John is renowned for his exceptional contributions over many years to the global policy and regulatory environment. He has been a driving force in the creation of CARB-X and in designing the overall vision and strategy that has guided CARB-X as the world’s leading early stage antibacterial R&D accelerator. While John played no role in deciding which companies would receive CARB-X funding, he was instrumental on many other important fronts, not the least of which was as a strong advocate for CARB-X and in forging solid relations around the world. With CARB-X more deeply active in pipeline growth and project selection, funding and support, John felt the time was right for him to focus on his roles as consultant and drug developer.

In sharing the news, Kevin Outterson said: “All of us at CARB-X are deeply thankful for John’s leadership and hard work. We wish him much success and fully expect him to continue to advance the global fight against drug-resistant bacteria.”