DUBLIN and CHICAGO, Feb. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Iterum Therapeutics Limited, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing anti-infectives for patients with infectious diseases and other acute illnesses, today announced the appointment of Jeff Schaffnit as Chief Commercial Officer.

In this newly created role, which reports directly to Iterum's Chief Executive Officer, Corey N. Fishman, Mr. Schaffnit will lead the commercialization of Iterum's antibiotic portfolio.

"Jeff brings a wealth of experience to Iterum as we accelerate the development of sulopenem, the first oral and intravenous penem antibiotic," said Mr. Fishman. 

"Jeff led commercial strategy for Abbott's blockbuster oral antibiotics Biaxin and Omnicef, then grew his responsibilities across many therapeutic areas and market sectors.  We believe he is ideally qualified to deliver success as our commercial leader."

Mr. Schaffnit said, "This is an extremely exciting time to join Iterum as we build rapidly and prepare to potentially deliver a first-in-class oral and IV antibiotic.  With increasing bacterial resistance reducing the number of therapeutic options, the world needs new, safe and effective oral antibiotics with activity against multidrug-resistant pathogens.  We are looking forward to collaborating with patients, physicians and payers so we can introduce this novel, much-needed solution if approved."

Mr. Schaffnit brings to Iterum more than 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical sales and marketing.  Most recently, he was Group Vice President and Head of Patient Engagement at Shire, leading a large team focused on patient services and advocacy across the entire rare disease portfolio.  Previously, as Group Vice President and Head of US Hematology, Mr. Schaffnit was the U.S. commercial leader of Shire's market leading Hematology business, delivering $1.7 billion in revenue.

About sulopenem
Sulopenem is under development as a novel penem anti-infective with oral and IV formulations in an IV-only class of antibiotics. It has demonstrated potent in vitro activity against a wide variety of gram-negative, gram-positive and anaerobic bacteria resistant to other antibiotics. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated sulopenem as a Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) for its oral and IV formulations for the treatment of uncomplicated and complicated urinary tract infections (uUTI and cUTI), as well as complicated intra-abdominal infections (CIAI).

About Iterum Therapeutics Limited
Iterum Therapeutics Limited is an Irish clinical-stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing differentiated anti-infectives aimed at combatting the global crisis of multi-drug resistant pathogens to significantly improve the lives of people affected by serious and life-threatening diseases around the world.  Iterum is led by a highly experienced team and backed by a blue-chip venture capital syndicate. For more information, please visit http://www.iterumtx.com.

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SOURCE Iterum Therapeutics Limited