ContraFect Corporation (NASDAQ:CFRX) Files An 8-K Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers

Item5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of
Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory
Arrangements of Certain Officers.

Appointment of Interim Office of the Chief Executive
Officer

On March10, 2017, Steven C. Gilman, Ph.D. notified ContraFect
Corporation (the Company) that he will be taking a leave of
absence from active employment as the Chief Executive Officer of
the Company to undergo treatment for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (the
Temporary Medical Leave Event), effective on March16, 2017.
Dr.Gilman remains the Chairman of the Board and a director of the
Company. In connection with the Temporary Medical Leave Event,
the Board of Directors (the Board) of the Company established an
Interim Office of the Chief Executive Officer (the Interim Office
of the CEO) to assume the duties of the Companys Chief Executive
Officer on an interim basis, effective on March16, 2017. The
Board has appointed Cara Cassino, M.D., the Companys Chief
Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Research and
Development, Natalie Bogdanos, the Companys General Counsel and
Corporate Secretary, Michael Messinger, the Companys Senior Vice
President, Finance, and Josh Muntner, the Companys Senior Vice
President, Business Development, to collectively serve as the
Interim Office of the CEO during the Temporary Medical Leave
Event. The Interim Office of the CEO will report directly to a
Board CEO Oversight Committee consisting of directors SolJ.
Barer, Ph.D., MichaelJ. Otto, Ph.D., Dr.Gilman and LisaR.
Ricciardi.

Dr.Cassino, age 55, has served as our Chief Medical Officer since
September 2015 and as Executive Vice President of Research and
Development since October, 2015. Dr.Cassino has over 20 years of
experience as a clinician and executive in healthcare, including
over 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical product development
with over 20 successful regulatory submissions in the United
States and globally. Prior to joining ContraFect in 2015,
Dr.Cassino served as an independent consultant to various
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Scynexis.
Prior to that, she served as Senior Vice President at Forest
Laboratories, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company (acquired by
Actavis plc, now Allergan plc), where she oversaw Global Clinical
Development from 2013 to 2014. While at Forest, she was
responsible for pre- and post-marketing clinical activities for a
portfolio of 35 compounds, and also clinical due diligence for MA
activity, including the $2.9billion acquisition of Aptalis Pharma
and the $1.1billion acquisition of Furiex Pharmaceuticals. From
2008 to 2013, Dr.Cassino held a number of senior positions at
Pfizer, including Global Medical Team Leader of Pfizers
antibacterial franchise which included Zyvox (linezolid) and
Medicines Development Group VP for Pulmonary Vascular Disease and
Rare Diseases. Prior to joining Pfizer, Dr.Cassino also served as
Executive Medical Director for the late stage U.S. respiratory
franchise at Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and was a
member of the academic faculty of the Division of Pulmonary and
Critical Care Medicine at New York University (NYU) School of
Medicine for eight years prior to joining industry. Dr.Cassino
received her B.A., summa cum laude, in Chemistry and Fine Arts
from NYU where she was elected Phi Beta Kappa, followed by an
M.D. from NYU School of Medicine. She completed her internship
and residency in Internal Medicine at NYU/Bellevue Hospital and a
fellowship in Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine at NYU and Mount
Sinai Medical Centers. Dr.Cassino is Board Certified in both
internal medicine and pulmonary medicine.

Ms.Bogdanos, age 48, has served as our General Counsel and
Corporate Secretary since August of 2014. She has over 18 years
of experience in the legal field, almost 10 of which were serving
as the chief legal officer of a publicly traded biotechnology
company. Prior to joining ContraFect in 2014, Ms.Bogdanos served
as Associate General Counsel at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center (MSKCC), a cancer treatment and research institution,
where she held a joint appointment with the Office of the General
Counsel and the Office of Technology Development (OTD). At MSKCC,
she provided legal counsel and guidance to various departments
throughout the institution while having sole responsibility for
the legal oversight of the OTD. She led the contracts group,
managed the institutions patent portfolio, provided regulatory
guidance and compliance, and advised on litigation strategy.
Prior to MSKCC, she was General Counsel at Enzo Biochem, Inc.
(Enzo), a publicly traded international biotechnology and life
science company, from 2003 to 2012. At Enzo, she was responsible
for leading the legal department, handling contracts and complex
business development agreements, ensuring SEC and regulatory
compliance,

overseeing litigation and managing Enzos portfolio of 500 patents
and patent applications. Previously, Ms.Bogdanos was an associate
at Amster, Rothstein Ebenstein from 1999 to 2003 where her
practice focused on patent litigation and patent prosecution.
Ms.Bogdanos has also served as a legal consultant to
pharmaceutical companies and was a faculty member at the
Practising Law Institute. Prior to attending law school, she was
a research technician at the Public Health Research Institute
where her work focused on Staphylococcus aureus. Ms.Bogdanos is
an attorney licensed to practice before the United States Patent
and Trademark Office. She is admitted to practice law in New
York, the United States District Court, Southern and Eastern
District of New York and the United States Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit. Ms.Bogdanos received her J.D. from New York
Law School and her Bachelor of Arts in Biology, with honors, from
Queens College of the City University of New York.

Mr.Messinger, age 42, currently serves as our Senior Vice
President, Finance. He has more than 16 years of experience in
finance, accounting and forecasting for clinical development.
Prior to joining ContraFect in November 2012 as our Vice
President, Finance, he served as Director of Finance at Lexicon
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Lexicon) for eight years and also held the
position of Controller for three years. Prior to working at
Lexicon, Mr.Messinger served as Controller of Coelacanth
Corporation (which was acquired by Lexicon) for two years. While
at Lexicon, Mr.Messinger was responsible for the financial
management of Lexicons partnership with Symphony Capital, LLC, in
addition to coordinating fiscal and program management concerning
Lexicons development programs. Mr.Messinger received his B.B.A.
degree in accounting from the University of Michigan. He started
his career as an auditor at Ernst Young LLP.

Mr.Muntner, age 48, has served as the Senior Vice President,
Business Development since 2015. Mr.Muntner has more than 15
years of transaction experience assisting life sciences companies
with financing and MA advisory transactions. Prior to joining
ContraFect, he served as Managing Director and Co-Head of
Healthcare Investment Banking at Janney Montgomery Scott, a
financial services firm from 2012 to 2015. Mr.Muntner was also a
Managing Director at ThinkEquity, an investment bank from 2009 to
2012. Previously, Mr.Muntner spent nine years at Oppenheimer Co.
and its U.S. predecessor, CIBC World Markets, in positions of
increasing responsibility. Mr.Muntner also served as an
investment banker at Prudential Securities. Mr.Muntner received
his B.F.A. degree from Carnegie Mellon and his M.B.A. degree from
The Anderson School at UCLA.

Letter Agreement with Dr.Steven Gilman

On March10, 2017, in connection with the Temporary Medical Leave
Event, the Company entered into a letter agreement with Dr.Gilman
(the Leave Agreement) providing generally, among other things,
that during the Temporary Medical Leave Event and for up to six
months, the Company will (a)continue to pay Dr.Gilmans base
salary at a rate equal to 50% of his current base salary and
(b)continue to offer Dr.Gilman and his eligible spouse and
dependents participation in the Companys health and welfare
benefit plans at substantially the same benefit levels offered to
the Companys active executive employees from time to time, with
the full cost of premiums for medical, dental and vision coverage
under such plans being paid by the Company.

The foregoing description of the Leave Agreement does not purport
to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to
the Leave Agreement, which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to this Form
8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

(d) Exhibits

ContraFect Corporation (NASDAQ:CFRX) Recent Trading Information

ContraFect Corporation (NASDAQ:CFRX) closed its last trading session down -0.05 at 2.20 with 76,598 shares trading hands.