BARRON’S | Like all publicly traded antibacterial product developers, ContraFect had a rough year in 2019. The biotech firm (ticker: CFRX), which is focused on discovering and developing so-called direct lytic agents to treat life-threatening infectious diseases, including staphylococcus that is resistant to antibiotics, saw its stock price fall to 27 cents in August from $1.53 at the end of 2018. ContraFect, which has two projects funded by CARB-X, got a boost in December when Pfizer took a $3-million stake in the company. Its stock price has now bucked the trend among antibacterial product developers and is rallying.