Monday, January 24, 2011

Horn named chief medical officer at Tetraphase

By James M. Connolly

Watertown-based Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc. has named Patrick Horn, formerly of Dyax Corp., as the company’s first chief medical officer.

Tetraphase is a clinical-stage life science company developing a synthetic chemistry technology platform targeting antibiotic resistance.

Horn is in charge of driving the clinical program for Tetraphase’s lead antibiotic candidate, TP-434, which is in a Phase 2 study. The company said that two other clinical antibiotic programs are expected to enter Phase 1 trials in 2011.

Horn joined Dyax 2006 as Senior Medical Director and was promoted to Vice President, Clinical and Medical Affairs in September 2007. In a press release, Tetraphase noted that at Dyax, Horn was responsible for building the Medical Affairs Organization to support Kalbitor (ecallantide), as well as for medical communication with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration during the regulatory review process. Prior to Dyax, he held positions at Abbott Laboratories. He was an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago from 1994 until 2001. Horn received his medical degree and his doctorate from the University of Chicago, and his bachelor of science from the University of Illinois.

In November, Tetraphase was among a number of Massachusetts biotechnology companies that were awarded federal tax credits as part of the Therapeutic Discovery Tax Credit program that was established within the federal health reform law approved in March. Tetraphase won three grants totaling $733,437.72.