Leadership Team

Seamus O’Brien is the R&D Director at the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP), a non for profit organisation addressing the public health impact of antibiotic resistance by prioritizing the development of and access to treatments for bacterial infections in patients and populations for which there are limited or no options. Seamus leads an R&D team to develop and deliver a portfolio of treatments through an integrated development to access to model. In 2023 his team delivered the first pivotal phase 3 clinical trial to address a World Health Organisation priority pathogen sponsored and led by a non-profit organisation.

Previously, he was responsible, in AstraZeneca and then Pfizer, for building and leading public-private R&D collaborations to address the need to develop treatment options for drug resistant infections. He played a leading role in establishing and leading novel partnerships with the US government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and with the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) New Drugs 4 Bad Bugs programme in Europe. Seamus has a Ph.D. in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and host immunity from the University of Leicester and first degree in Microbiology from Trinity College Dublin.