Challenges of Antibiotic Drug Development

Dr. Steve Rittenhouse, our neighbor at the Collegeville facility of GlaxoSmithKline, is Director of Microbiology in the Antibacterial Discovery Performance Unit. Steve received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Temple University, an MA in Biology from Villanova University, and a BS in Biology from Ursinus College. He joined SmithKline Beecham, a legacy company of GSK, in 1990, at a time when our rapid understanding of bacterial genomics was believed to be on the verge of revolutionizing antibacterial drug discovery.

An expert in the in vitro characterization of antimicrobial agents and preclinical models of bacterial infection, Steve has authored over 100 publications, presentations and abstracts related to antibiotic drug discovery. He has led multiple antibacterial discovery programs at GSK that have progressed candidates to clinical development, including Retapamulin, which was the first pleuromutilin antibacterial approved for clinical use. He is the Industry Representative for the Eastern PA Branch of the American Society for Microbiology and has been an active member for more than 25 years.