Seamus O’Brien is R&D Director at the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP).

Prior to joining GARDP, Seamus was responsible for building and leading collaborations and partnerships in R&D to address the commitment of pharmaceutical companies in developing treatments for drug-resistant infections. In particular, he played a leading role in establishing novel partnerships with the USA government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) as the principal investigator for an antibiotic portfolio agreement. He also worked with the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) New Drugs 4 Bad Bugs programme within Europe as leader of the COMBACTE-CARE consortium addressing carbapenem resistance. Seamus has represented both AstraZeneca and Pfizer Essential Health on the Infection Control Strategic Governance Group for IMI.

Before joining Pfizer, Seamus worked for 10 years at AstraZeneca. He initially led physicians and scientists in the clinical development of oncology and infection products. He played a leading role in building a standalone infection unit to address AstraZeneca’s commitment to developing antibiotics for unmet medical needs. He was responsible for bringing a novel antibiotic combination candidate through phase 1 to phase 2 and designing a streamlined clinical development programme aligned with emerging regulatory guidance.

Seamus received his doctorate degree from the University of Leicester, UK after research in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and host immunity and he received his bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.