Lisa Ricciardi to Join Board of Directors

YONKERS, NY--(Marketwired - February 15, 2017) - ContraFect Corporation (NASDAQ: CFRX), a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of protein and antibody therapeutics for life-threatening, drug-resistant infectious diseases, announced today that it has appointed Lisa Ricciardi to its Board of Directors. Ms. Ricciardi is a Life Sciences executive with deep business development and operational experience. She has worked for top pharmaceutical, payer, and molecular diagnostics firms including Pfizer, Inc., Medco Health Solutions, Inc., and Foundation Medicine, as well as for Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, a global venture capital partnership. She currently serves on the board of Chimerix, Inc, and United Drug Healthcare Group, PLC, and was a prior board member of Sepracor Inc., which was sold to Dainippon Sumitomo for $2.6 billion.

"We are thrilled to have Lisa joining our board," said Steven C. Gilman, Ph.D., ContraFect's Chairman and CEO. "She has a proven ability to work in established companies as well as in early stage environments and her demonstrated success in executing global buy- and sell-side business development transactions will be invaluable to us as we continue to build the Company."

Ms. Ricciardi commented, "I am excited to join the ContraFect Board of Directors and look forward to working closely with the board and the management team to continue to advance novel therapeutics which, if successful, may provide important solutions to patients with serious and often life-threatening infections due to drug-resistant organisms."

About ContraFect

ContraFect is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing therapeutic protein and antibody products for life-threatening, drug-resistant infectious diseases, particularly those treated in hospital settings. An estimated 700,000 deaths worldwide each year are attributed to drug-resistant bacterial infections. We intend to address life threatening infections using our therapeutic product candidates from our lysin and monoclonal antibody platforms to target conserved regions of either bacteria or viruses (regions that are not prone to mutation). In addition to CF-301, the company's preclinical programs include potential novel lysins for the treatment of drug resistant gram-negative pathogens as well as a mononclonal antibody program targeted for the treatment of viral influenza.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains, and our officers and representatives may make from time to time, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "projects," "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "intends," "plans," "potential" or similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements in this release include, without limitation, statements regarding our ability to discover and develop protein therapeutics and antibody products for life-threatening, drug resistant infectious diseases, whether Ms. Ricciardi's experience will be invaluable to the growth of the Company, whether the board and the management team can advance therapeutics which will provide important solutions to patients with serious and often life-threatening infections due to drug-resistant organisms, our ability to address life threatening infections using our therapeutic product candidates from our lysin and antibody platforms by targeting conserved regions of either bacteria or viruses, and our ability to discover and develop novel lysins for the treatment of drug-resistant gram-negative pathogens. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts, nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based on ContraFect's current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of its business, future plans, strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond ContraFect's control, including those detailed in ContraFect's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ include, among others, our ability to develop treatments for drug-resistant infectious diseases. Any forward-looking statement made by ContraFect in this press release is based only on information currently available and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable law, ContraFect expressly disclaims any obligations to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.