Christopher J. Burns

Dr. Burns is Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer at Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, a world leader in anti-infectives research and development. Dr. Burns has 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry including various corporate and R&D leadership positions at Protez/Novartis, ViroPharma, and Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi). Dr. Burns has appeared as co-author or co-inventor on more than 60 patents and publications and has served as Principal Investigator on more than ten awarded U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) grants. He received a B.S. in Chemistry from St. Joseph’s University, and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under Nobel-laureate Professor K. Barry Sharpless. Dr. Burns was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year in the Health and Life Sciences category in Greater Philadelphia, and Life Sciences Pennsylvania CEO of the Year in 2019. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at Life Sciences Pennsylvania and the Antimicrobials Working Group.