Christopher Burns

Dr. Burns is Founder, President and CEO of Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, a world leader in antibacterial and antiviral drug research and development. He has 30 years of 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 10 awarded U.S. National Institute of Health 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 currently serves on the Board of Directors at Life Sciences Pennsylvania (LSPA) and the Antimicrobials Working Group (AWG) and on the Advisory Board for Life Science Cares Philadelphia. Dr. Burns was named both Life Sciences Pennsylvania’s ‘CEO of the Year’ and an Ernst and Young ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2019.