Spero Therapeutics Hires Cristina Larkin as Chief Commercial Officer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 2, 2016 /CNW/ -- Spero Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company founded to develop novel therapies for the treatment of bacterial infections, today announced the appointment of Cristina Larkin as Chief Commercial Officer.

In her new post, which reports directly to Spero's Chief Executive Officer Ankit Mahadevia, M.D., Larkin will ensure the integrated commercial success of the company. Her initial focus will be to establish the company's commercial strategy to effectively advance and position Spero's Potentiator platform and DHFR program.

"Along with dramatic changes in the regulatory environment and new incentives for antibiotic developers, the model by which we deliver drugs to patients is changing in this new era for antibiotics.  Cristina has a proven track record of navigating this new environment to create a highly effective commercial strategy," said Ankit Mahadevia, M.D., Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Spero. "As Spero prepares to advance its programs towards the clinic, Cristina's expertise will be invaluable as we create the development plan and product strategy that will support the potential approval of our products."

Ms. Larkin has over 22 years of experience developing strategic commercial insights for biopharmaceutical companies from Phase 1 studies to product launch. Her expertise ranges across various infectious disease products, including Avycaz, Dalvance, Teflaro, Levaquin and Floxin.  Prior to joining Spero, Ms. Larkin served as Assistant Vice President for Forest Laboratories. There, she led the commercial hospital antibiotic franchise team and was responsible for the U.S. launch and execution strategy for several antibiotics.  Before joining Forest Laboratories, Ms. Larkin also held a variety of commercial roles at Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, a division of Johnson and Johnson, that included sales, managed markets, reimbursement and marketing.  Ms. Larkin received a bachelor's degree from Florida State University.

"I am passionate about the anti-infectives space and was drawn to the company because of the novel, cutting edge approaches Spero is taking to combat gram-negative infections," said Cristina Larkin, Chief Commercial Officer at Spero. "I look forward to applying my expertise in developing and commercializing novel anti-infectives as we move our product candidates forward."

About Spero
Spero is a biopharmaceutical company developing a pipeline of novel treatments for bacterial infections and is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company's pipeline of anti-infective agents is one of the most unique in the industry. Spero is pioneering an entirely new therapeutic platform called the Potentiator; this approach has yielded multiple molecules that enhance the utility and potency of many classes of existing drugs to include Gram-negative organisms. Spero's DHFR program is exploring the expansion of a novel antifolate's antibacterial spectrum to treat trimethoprim resistance isolates including Gram-negative pathogens. And, Spero's MvfR program is exploring the hypothesis of blunting the virulence of bugs, infections, essentially "buying time" so antibiotics can take effect. The investors in Spero include Atlas Ventures, SR One, MRL Ventures, Lundbeckfond Ventures, The Kraft Group, Osage Partners and The Partners Innovation Fund. For more information, please visit www.sperotherapeutics.com

SOURCE Spero Therapeutics

Spectrum Science Communications: Maia Arnold, PhD, Senior Scientific Executive, 202-955-6222 x2506, [email protected], http://www.sperotherapeutics.com