ABOUT US
Bacainn was founded in 2017. We draw on global R&D talent within our own team (based in Concord, MA) as well as with our key collaborators at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (Worcester, MA), Hudson Institute of Medical Research (Melbourne, Australia) and University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh, UK)
Bacainn is operated by Morningside BioPharma Advisory and is funded by Morningside Ventures
LEADERSHIP TEAM
ADVISORS
Ed Campanaro
Prior to entering the biopharmaceutical industry, Ed held hospital positions as an ICU registered nurse at The Massachusetts General Hospital and later as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. Ed holds an MS from The Georgetown University with a concentration in Clinical Research Administration, and a BSN from The University of Massachusetts-Boston.
Ed has more than three decades of drug development experience spanning multiple biopharmaceutical companies and various therapeutic areas. Prior to joining Artugen, Ed was Snr. Vice President of Clinical Operations at Arsanis, Inc. where he oversaw internal and external clinical operations, data management, statistics, and medical writing functions involved in the execution and analysis of a complex global Phase 2 ICU-based trial. Before joining Arsanis, Ed headed-up Clinical Operations and Data Management at bluebird bio, Inc. He also spent close to 15 years at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, where he led cross-functional teams through the successful execution and completion of global clinical development programs of novel antibiotics, leading to the successful marketing approvals for multiple acute-care products.
Ed joined Artugen in 2019 as a consultant and interim Head of Clinical Operations, overseeing the planning and execution of the company’s clinical trial program.
Dr. Chris Stevens
Dr. Stevens began his career as an academic gastroenterologist with 10 years of clinical and research experience at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts as an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School where he was an NIH funded physician scientist in the field of mucosal immunology in the context of inflammatory bowel disease with over 30 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Stevens left academia in 1998 to join Circe biomedical as its Medical Director developing a bioartificial liver, a combination cell therapy/device product for the treatment of fulminant hepatic failure. Following Circe he was medical director at Altus Pharmaceuticals developing liprotamase, a pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, for the treatment of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Since 2004 he has been an independent consultant for over 40 companies with a focus on drug development of therapies targeting not only gastrointestinal diseases, but also other indications including hereditary angioedema, arthritis, diabetes, hepatitis and oncology. He has worked in all phases of drug development from pre-IND to NDA, BLA and MAA filing, orphan drug and fast track applications and FDA advisory committee presentations.
Dr. Stevens was the Senior Vice President of Alnara which was sold to Lilly after the NDA filing of liprotamase, an exocrine pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy. He consulted with Cubist Pharmaceuticals for more than five years, shepherding their investigational drug surotomycin for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection from IND filing to the completion of its successful phase 2 trial. He was a consultant for 8 years for Dyax, Inc supporting the development of peptides and monoclonal antibodies for the treatment and prevention of hereditary angioedema resulting in the sale of Dyax to Shire. Dr. Stevens was also a gastroenterology expert with Millenium/Takeda assisting them with their BLA and MAA for vedolizumab that was approved for both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease in the US and in Europe.
Most recently Dr. Stevens was the Chief Medical Officer for Arsanis, Inc from 2016 to 2019 overseeing the development of ASN100 for the prevention of bacterial pneumonia from preIND through to Phase 2. Dr. Stevens now serves as Artugen’s consultant to the biopharmaceutical industry.
Dr. Ellie Hershberger, Pharm D
Dr. Ellie Hershberger, Pharm D is a clinical advisor with over eighteen years of experience in leading the development of small and large molecules across multiple therapeutic areas. Dr. Hershberger’s experience includes leading drug candidates through early and late-stages of development with over 20 successful regulatory submissions in the US and globally. Dr. Hershberger has held a number of leadership positions in various levels of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, Cubist, Merck, and Visterra. She played a leading role in the development of Zerbaxa® and Cubicin® while serving as Global Program Development Lead at Merck and Senior Medical Director at Cubist. At Visterra, she led the clinical and operation teams responsible for global development of novel biologic therapies. Dr. Hershberger has a BS in Chemistry, a Doctorate in Pharmacy and completed a fellowship in Infectious Diseases PK/PD.
Dr. Hershberger now serves as Artugen’s clinical advisor.
Cheryl Cormier
In 2018, Cheryl joined Artugen Therapeutics as Operations Manager to lead the operations and expand the company, supporting its Chief Executive, Ronnie Farquhar.
Ronald Farquhar, D. Phil
Ronnie Farquhar joined Morningside Ventures in 2015 with almost 30 years of biopharma R&D experience. As an entrepreneur-in-residence, he was charged with the identification of innovative infection and immunity related investments. He subsequently became the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Artugen Therapeutics Ltd., Bacainn Biotherapeutics, Ltd., ClearB Therapeutics Ltd. and Epsila Bio, Inc. and alongside an experienced management team, he has helped to guide these companies through discovery into clinical stage. Prior to Morningside, Dr. Farquhar was Senior Vice President, Discovery and Pharmaceutical Research at Cubist Pharmaceuticals where he oversaw the Company’s mission to identify novel antibacterials. During previous stages of his career, Ronnie served in senior roles at as Charles River Labs’ Preclinical Services, ActivBiotics, Inc., Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Pfizer Research. Approved products to which Ronnie has contributed include SelzentryTM(miraviroc) an anti-viral for the treatment of HIV and Zerbaxa® (ceftolozane/tazobactam) a cephalosporin antibacterial used for complicated and hospital acquired infection.
Dr. Farquhar holds a D. Phil. in microbial genetics from Oxford University, and BSc, microbiology from the University of Edinburgh.
Jason Dinges
Jason Dinges is the interim Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Bacainn. He is a 10+ year veteran of the investment team of Morningside, Bacainn ’s principal investor, with extensive experience working with private non-clinical and clinical stage companies developing drugs across a broad spectrum of therapeutic areas. Jason was previously an associate attorney at Foley & Lardner LLP, practicing intellectual property law in the firm’s Chemical, Biotechnology, and Pharmaceutical practice group. He received his Ph.D. in genetics from Iowa State University and a J.D., with highest distinction, from the University of Iowa College of Law.
Christopher Murphy
Christopher Murphy received his B.S. in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University, and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from the University of Notre Dame. He went on to pursue postdoctoral research in bacterial genetics in Jon Beckwith’s lab at Harvard Medical School. Over the past 25 years Chris has held industry positions focused on infectious disease, pain and cancer supportive care. While at ActivBiotics, Inc. he was instrumental in driving the preclinical work to support Galera Therapeutics GC4419 advancement into the clinic for the treatment of severe oral mucositis. Chris later spent 7 years at Cubist Pharmaceuticals as director of the in vivo pharmacology group, playing key roles in advancing antibacterial and pain clinical candidates, and serving on the diligence team for preclinical assets and collaborations. Chris has also held senior positions at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Kaleido Biosciences and is a consultant for Artugen Therapeutics and ClearB Therapeutics.
In April 2017, Chris joined Bacainn Therapeutics as Vice President of Research and Development, leading the company’s advancement of inflammation-targeted molecules into the clinic.
Beth McCormick
Dr. McCormick earned her Ph.D. in Microbiology in the topic area of intestinal ecology, and completed postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School. She remained on the faculty of Harvard Medical School where she was an Associate Professor of Pediatric Gastroenterology, and Director of Research for the Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2008, she joined the University of Massachusetts Medical School where she is Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems. Dr. McCormick is also the Founding Executive Director of the University of Massachusetts Center for Microbiome Research, which she established in 2014. Dr. McCormick is one of the original pioneers in the field now known as Cellular Microbiology. Her work provided the first evidence that epithelial cells in response to pathogen contact orchestrate a pro-inflammatory program, which recruits inflammatory cells. Dr. McCormick has since identified new, previously unidentified and unexpected virulence mechanisms that are key to the inflammatory response, leading to both novel biological principles of host-microbe interactions and therapeutic intervention strategies for the treatment inflammatory bowel disease, and cancer. Her work continues to identify novel ways in which microbes interact with the intestinal epithelium, publishing over 100 original research papers and opinion pieces in this area. Dr. McCormick is an elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, is on the Board of Editors for Gastroenterology, and Gut Microbes, and serves as a member of four Editorial Review Boards.
Devon Holler
Ashely Mansell, PhD
Ashley joined Bacainn Therapeutics in 2020 to lead the Translational Science group, bringing nearly 20 years of research and discovery experience in the field of immune inflammation. Working from the premise that inflammation is the basis of nearly all human disease, his studies have provided evidence of cross-talk between innate signaling pathways that orchestrate inflammation and immunometabolism, viral immunomodulation of these pathways, and the structural/functional elements of Toll-like receptor (TLR)-induced inflammation. Prior to joining Bacainn, Dr. Mansell established an independent research group at the Monash Institute of Medical Research examining the role of Pattern Recognition Receptors in immune inflammation. Here, he and his team discovered a new class of viral aggregating proteins that activate the NLRP3 inflammasome. Most recently, he has identified new therapeutic opportunities to target inflammasome-mediated inflammation to potentially address a host of inflammatory diseases.
Dr. Mansell completed his PhD in Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland investigating bacterial activation of the prototypic inflammatory NF-kappaB. He returned to Australia in 2002 to undertake post-doctoral studies at the Monash Institute of Medical Research in Clayton, Victoria, (renamed Hudson Institute of Medical Research in 2014) recognized internationally for discovery science and translational research. There he established his own independent research group in 2007. Dr. Mansell has published over 80 original research articles and been awarded multiple competitive research grants related to innate immune inflammation. He maintains an adjunct appointment at Monash University and Hudson Institute of Medical Research in Victoria, Australia.
Jennifer Locke
As the Chief Operating and Business Officer at Bacainn Therapeutics, Jennifer serves as the key strategic leader overseeing both our business development and business operations divisions. She brings more than 15 years of experience in the biotech industry-leading high-performing teams, directing innovative development strategies, and executing operational excellence from early-stage drug discovery through NDA/BLA filing and into commercial launch. Prior to joining Artugen, Jennifer was the Senior Director Program Management at Seres Therapeutics where she ran the successful development of SER-109 for recurrent C. difficile into Phase 3, and SER-287 for ulcerative colitis into Phase 2 as well as the early-stage development of several other assets in the Seres’ portfolio. She has also held several leadership roles of increasing responsibilities at Merck and Cubist. Jennifer holds a Master of Science (M.S.) Project Management & Global Business from Boston University and a B.A. English, Spanish, and Women’s Studies from Fairfield University.
Shannon Foley
Shannon is the Senior Director, Head of Finance, of Bacainn Therapeutics where she is responsible for financial planning and operations.
Ben Miller, PharmD
Benjamin Miller, PharmD, joined Artugen Therapeutics as Senior Director and Head of Clinical Research with over 10 years of research and development experience across diverse therapeutic areas, including rare diseases, nephrology, hematology, allergy/immunology and infectious disease. Prior to joining Artugen, Ben was most recently where he was responsible for Phase 4 evidence generation and life-cycle management planning and development for the marketed complement inhibitor SolirisÒ (eculizumab) as well as real-world data and launch support for UltomirisÒ (ravulizumab). Prior to this, Dr. Miller held various research and development roles of increasing responsibility at Shire, Merck and Cubist Pharmaceuticals and brings from early-stage development, through NDA, product launch and post marketing.
Ben received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Ohio Northern University and completed a postdoctoral industry fellowship in clinical research through Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
Bharat Dixit, PhD
Bharat has more than 15 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, with a focus in the areas of bioprocess & analytical development, as well as drug formulation including fill-finish, cGMP manufacturing, and project leadership. Bharat’s CMC expertise ranges from small molecules to complex biologics, vaccines and live biotherapeutics (microbiome). Prior to joining Bacainn, Dr. Dixit led process and product development teams at Finch Therapeutics he successfully oversaw development and manufacturing for the company’s lead candidate, CP101, currently in late-stage clinical development for recurrent C. difficile infection (CDI). Prior to Finch, Bharat led teams at Gencoea Biosciences and Sanofi focused on development of several vaccine products.
Dr. Dixit earned his master’s degree in Life Science/Biotechnology from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, and Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh, India.