Cempra Pharmaceuticals Names Richard Kent, M.D., to Its Board of Directors

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Cempra Pharmaceuticals announced that Richard Kent, M.D., a partner at Intersouth Partners, has been appointed to Cempra's board of directors.  Dr. Kent will replace Garheng Kong, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., as Intersouth's representative on the board.   Dr. Kong, who has recently taken a position as a general partner at Sofinnova Ventures, will continue as Cempra's chairman of the board.

Dr. Kent brings extensive pharmaceutical management and drug development experience to the Cempra board.  During his over 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry, he supervised dozens of Investigational New Drug (IND) applications and over 20 successful New Drug Applications (NDAs) in a wide range of therapeutic areas.  Prior to joining Intersouth Partners, he was chief executive officer of Serenex, Inc., a venture-backed biotechnology company that was acquired by Pfizer in 2008.  He also held a number of senior positions at Burroughs Wellcome, GlaxoWellcome and GlaxoSmithKline.  Dr. Kent received his M.D. from the University of California, San Diego and his B.Sc. from the University of California, Berkeley.

"Adding Dr. Kent to our board, with his experience both in shepherding NDAs through to regulatory approval and his involvement with Serenex's transaction with Pfizer, is an important step for Cempra," said Prabhavathi Fernandes, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Cempra Pharmaceuticals.  "We have two differentiated antibiotic candidates in mid-to-late stage clinical development.  His advice will be invaluable as both of our antibiotics move forward towards an NDA as well as assisting us with our partnering strategy."

Dr. Kent added, "Cempra's two antibiotic candidates have significant commercial potential in a therapeutic area that needs new options for physicians and patients but suffers from a lack of new drug candidates.  I am looking forward to working with the Cempra team to contribute strategy and direction to bring these two drug candidates to the market."

About Cempra Pharmaceuticals

Founded in 2006, Cempra Pharmaceuticals is a privately-held, clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing antibacterials to address critical medical needs. Two lead products, both in late-stage clinical trials, address the urgent and increasing need for new treatments targeting drug-resistant bacterial infections in the hospital and in the community. Cempra is well-funded and is committed to developing commercially and medically differentiated and novel products that reduce development risk and provide a high financial return. The company is also utilizing its proprietary compound library and chemistry technology to develop novel macrolides without antibacterial activity for non-antibiotic uses such as COPD, chronic inflammatory and GI disorders. Additional information about Cempra can be found at www.cempra.com.

SOURCE Cempra Pharmaceuticals