Deborah L. Birx, M.D., was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Armata on July 10, 2023. Prior to joining Armata, Dr. Birx served as a member of Innoviva’s Board of Directors from March 2021 until July 2023.
Dr. Birx is a world-renowned medical expert and leader who most recently served as the response coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Previously, she served as Ambassador-at-Large, when she assumed the role of the Coordinator of the United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS and U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy. Dr. Birx also served as the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator where she oversaw the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) at the CDC and as the Director of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (USMHRP) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
From 1980 until 2008, Dr. Birx served in the United States Army, retiring with the rank of colonel. Dr. Birx has published over 230 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, authored nearly a dozen chapters in scientific publications, as well as developed and patented vaccines. She received her medical degree from the Hershey School of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University, and beginning in 1980, she trained in internal medicine and basic and clinical immunology at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Birx is board certified in internal medicine, allergy and immunology, and diagnostic and clinical laboratory immunology.
Dr. Pastagia is a translational medicine physician with 15 years of clinical and research experience across academia, biotech and large Pharma. Most of her career has been spent on the development of new anti-infective therapies, including phage-based therapeutics, to treat increasingly drug-resistant organisms.
Dr. Pastagia is well versed in the design and execution of Phase I-III clinical trials for both antibacterial and antiviral agents, and she oversees Armata’s clinical development efforts with the goal of advancing its natural and synthetic phage product candidates through randomized controlled trials, supporting a path to registration.
Prior to joining Armata, Dr. Pastagia served as Senior Medical Director, Infectious Diseases and Vaccines, at Janssen Biopharma, a member of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Since 2017 she led the design and execution of clinical trials for Janssen’s antiviral, antibacterial and immunology assets, and served as clinical leader for Respiratory Syncytial Virus, hepatitis B, and pathogen-specific bacteriophage therapy for certain indications. Prior to Janssen, she served as Translational Medicine Leader in Infectious Diseases, Immunology and Inflammation at Hoffmann-La Roche. During that time, Dr. Pastagia served as antibiotic therapeutic head and leader of disease area strategy, as well as team lead for the development of baloxavir for influenza. Her prior experience also includes serving as Medial Director at Clinilabs, a global, full-service contract research organization, and as Associate Director of Clinical Development at ContraFect Corporation, where she was responsible for the development of biologic anti-infectives, including a bacteriophage lysin targeting Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. Prior to ContraFect, Dr. Pastagia served as an Instructor of Clinical Investigation in Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology at The Rockefeller University. Dr. Pastagia previously held adjunct appointments in the Division of Microbiology at The Rockefeller University and in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Dr. Pastagia is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease, and also is a registered pharmacist in the State of New York. She received her medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical Center, completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at Boston University, and completed her fellowship in infectious diseases at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Most recently, she earned her Master’s degree in Clinical and Translational Science from The Rockefeller University, with her thesis entitled, “Use of a Novel Bacteriophage-Derived Lysin to Treat MRSA in Psoriasis.” Dr. Pastagia is a Member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ACTS), and the Network on Antimicrobial Resistance in S. aureus (NARSA).
David House was appointed Senior Vice President, Finance and Principal Financial Officer on August 16, 2024. Previously, Mr. House served as Corporate Controller and Vice President of Accounting at ZO Skin Health, Inc., a multi-channel physician-dispensed skincare company, from October 2018 to May 2024. At ZO Skin Health, he led global accounting operations, managed financial reporting, and played a crucial role in the company’s acquisition by Blackstone. He also established international subsidiaries and oversaw financial integration for mergers and acquisitions. Mr. House’s experience includes similar financial leadership roles at Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, and Avid Bioservices, Inc., a contract development and manufacturing organization, where he served as Controller and was responsible for implementing ASC 606, managing technical accounting, and conducting Securities and Exchange Commissionreporting. Mr. House’s career also includes roles at Viant, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSP), Sourcing Solutions, LLC, and Apria Healthcare, where he held various accounting and financial management positions. In the early stages of his career, Mr. House worked as a Senior Auditor at Windes & McClaughry Accountancy Corp., a public accounting firm. There, he managed comprehensive audits for public, private, and not-for-profit entities and contributed to SEC filings and internal control evaluations. Mr. House holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with an Accounting concentration from California State University, Fullerton. He obtained his California Certified Public Accountant license, which is currently inactive.
Pierre Kyme, Ph.D., was appointed Chief Business Officer of Armata in June 2024. Dr. Kyme also currently serves as a member of the boards of directors of Armata’s Australian subsidiaries. Dr. Kyme is devoted to Armata’s business and corporate development activities, a role that started at C3J Therapeutics in 2015. Previously, Dr. Kyme served as a lead Scientist and Director of Product Development at C3J Therapeutics from 2012, leading a team that set strategy and delivered key data essential for advancing a lead antimicrobial molecule through Phase 2 human clinical trials. He also contributed to the company’s pipeline programs, providing medical and commercial rationale to justify pipeline expansion. Prior to joining Armata, Dr. Kyme spent 5 years maturing his drug development career at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center leading project teams from concept through preclinical research in infectious disease and immunology. In this capacity, he worked closely with the Technology Transfer Office, and was the recipient of the Malaniak Award for Excellence in Research. Prior to this, in partnership with Qiagen Pty. Ltd., Dr. Kyme worked at Sydney’s Millennium Institute, as part of a priority national grant for urgent research into avian influenza. Dr. Kyme has also served as Scientific Advisor for the Australia Desk and Life Sciences & Healthcare Practice at Cappello Global, a boutique investment bank, and as consultant analyst to a global specialist life sciences investment firm, evaluating multiple therapeutic areas. His work contributed to a $60 million capital raising for a private U.S. oncology biotech, which in 2012 initiated the world’s largest Phase 3 human clinical trial for a melanoma vaccine. Dr. Kyme earned his Ph.D. in Medicine from the University of Sydney, Australia, the bulk of which was accomplished as an invited scholar at the University of Tübingen, Germany. He completed his postdoctoral training at the Michael Smith Laboratories in Vancouver, Canada, under an $8M grant from the Gates Foundation Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, developing Innate Defense Regulators in partnership with Inimex Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Soligenix).
Dr. Mishra has over 25 years of experience in biomedical research including her most recent 10 years in Quality. As Armata’s Vice President of Quality, Dr. Mishra is responsible for ensuring compliance with cGMP and GLP standards in the production and testing of investigational products, as well as ensuring GCP compliance in the conduct of clinical trials. Dr. Mishra joined Armata in 2020 and successfully built a Quality Assurance Department, implementing phase-appropriate quality systems for the conduct of clinical trials. Dr. Mishra began her career in Quality at Calimmune Inc., a company co-founded by Nobel Laureate, David Baltimore, and later acquired by CSL Behring. At Calimmune, she developed and upgraded the quality management system, including the implementation of an electronic quality management system. She has also worked at HemaCare, a Charles River Company, where she had an integral role in maintaining quality and regulatory compliance in the manufacture of donor-derived blood products. She earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Pathology from the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. While working as a postdoctoral scholar at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, she received the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine grant award (CIRM) and the A.P. Giannini Medical Fellowship award for her translational research work on Cystic Fibrosis. As a Researcher at the University of California in Los Angeles, Dr. Mishra was responsible for the manufacture of autologous gene therapy products for multiple Phase 1/2 clinical trials, as well as management responsibilities for the cGMP facility and the clinical laboratories.
Peter leads Armata’s operations team with over 17 years of experience in biotech and pharmaceutical production with companies like Baxter Bioscience, GlaxoSmithKline, Pacira Pharmaceuticals and Kite Pharma. Most recently, he was the Director of Manufacturing at Armata Pharmaceuticals where he led the manufacturing team starting in 2022 and helped to build out greater manufacturing capabilities. Prior to joining Armata, Peter helped to mature manufacturing operations at Kite Pharma. He has experience leading Right First Time Initiatives, cost savings projects, and streamlining manufacturing operations. Peter holds a B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Redlands. He also holds an M.B.A. from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School with an emphasis in Leadership and Organizational Change.
