SAN DIEGO, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ardea Biosciences, Inc. today announced that Felix J. Baker, Ph.D., has been appointed to the Company's Board of Directors. Dr. Baker is a managing partner of Baker Bros. Advisors, LLC, the manager and advisor to the funds of Baker Brothers Investments, Ardea's largest shareholder.
"Baker Brothers Investments has been a significant, long-term supporter of Ardea and has a well-deserved reputation for consistently understanding and backing high quality life sciences companies," commented Barry D. Quart, PharmD, Ardea's president and chief executive officer. "We are pleased to have Dr. Baker join our board and we look forward to his insights, guidance and support at what is an exciting time in Ardea's history."
About Ardea Biosciences, Inc.
Ardea Biosciences, Inc., of San Diego, California, is a biotechnology company focused on the development of small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of gout, cancer and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). RDEA594, our lead product candidate in development for the treatment of hyperuricemia and gout, is a selective URAT1 transporter inhibitor in Phase 2 clinical development. Our next-generation URAT1 inhibitor, RDEA684, is currently in preclinical development. RDEA119, a potent and specific inhibitor of mitogen-activated ERK kinase (MEK), is being developed under a global license agreement with Bayer HealthCare AG. RDEA119 is currently being evaluated in advanced cancer patients of different tumor types as a single agent in a Phase 1 study as well as in combination with sorafenib (Nexavar((R)), Bayer HealthCare, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) in a Phase 1/2 study. RDEA806, for the treatment of HIV, is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) that has successfully completed a Phase 2a study in HIV patients. RDEA427, a next generation NNRTI, has superior pharmacokinetic properties, and even greater activity against a wide range of drug-resistant viral isolates than RDEA806. We have evaluated RDEA427 in a human micro-dose pharmacokinetic study.
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CONTACT: John Beck of Ardea Biosciences, Inc., +1-858-652-6523,
jbeck@ardeabio.com; or Media, Heidi Chokeir, Ph.D. of Russo Partners, LLC,
+1-619-528-2217, heidi.chokeir@russopartnersllc.com, for Ardea Biosciences,
Inc.
Web site: http://www.ardeabiosciences.com/
