CARLSBAD, Calif., March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Ardea Biosciences, Inc. today announced changes to its executive management team. Christopher W. Krueger, J.D., MBA, has joined the Company as Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer, and Colin E. Rowlings, Ph.D. has joined as Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Mr. Krueger will be responsible for Business Development and Legal Affairs, while Dr. Rowlings' responsibilities will include Pharmaceutical Development, Analytical Development and Manufacturing.
"Chris and Colin bring critical industry experience to Ardea. They will be instrumental to the Company's success in the discovery, development and eventual commercialization of targeted, small-molecule drugs for the treatment of viral diseases, cancer and inflammatory diseases," commented Barry D. Quart, Pharm.D., President and CEO.
Prior to joining Ardea Biosciences, Chris Krueger served as Senior Vice President, Business Development & Strategic Alliances at Protemix Corporation. Prior to joining Protemix, from 2004 to 2006, he served as Senior Vice President, Business Development at Xencor, Inc., where he negotiated a broad range of licenses and strategic alliances. Prior to joining Xencor, from 2002 to 2004, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer at X-Ceptor Therapeutics, Inc. (now Exelixis, Inc.), where he was responsible for corporate development, finance, legal affairs, intellectual property and human resources. At X-Ceptor, he led mergers and acquisition efforts resulting in the sale of X-Ceptor to Exelixis, Inc. . Prior to joining X-Ceptor, from 2000 to 2002, he served in various executive positions at Aurora Biosciences Corporation (now Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.),including Vice President, Business Development & Strategic Alliances and General Counsel, where he was responsible for licensing, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, legal affairs and intellectual property. At Aurora, he led efforts resulting in the purchase of Quorum Sciences, Inc. and PanVera Corporation, as well as the sale of Aurora to Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. . Prior to joining Aurora, he served as Corporate Counsel at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a multi-national technology development company. Prior to joining SAIC, he served as an attorney at Cooley Godward llp and represented both privately-held and public companies in a wide range of transactions, including licensing, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings and venture capital financings. Mr. Krueger received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, cum laude, from the University of California, San Diego and his Juris Doctor and Masters of Business Administration from the University of Southern California.
Dr. Rowlings has been a consultant since 2005 and became President of his own consulting company in early 2007. Prior to this, Dr. Rowlings was Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical Research and Development at Advancis Pharmaceutical Corp. Dr. Rowlings was at Advancis for four years and led the Pharmaceutical Research, Pharmaceutical Development Operations, Analytical Sciences, Project Management and Quality Assurance organizations. From 1997 to 2001, he was Director of Pharmaceutical Development at Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now Pfizer, Inc.). Dr. Rowlings has also worked in Product Development at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now sanofi-aventis) and Eli Lilly and Company. Dr. Rowlings has a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Queensland, Australia and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from the University of Iowa.
Ardea also announced today the planned departure of Zhi Hong, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Research and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Hong will be leaving Ardea to pursue a new opportunity in the industry. "Zhi has built a solid scientific organization with a talented and experienced senior management team that is focused on meeting our corporate goals. We are grateful to Zhi for his many contributions and wish him much success in his future endeavors," commented Dr. Quart.
About Ardea Biosciences, Inc.
Ardea is focused on the development of small-molecule drugs that address large pharmaceutical markets. We plan to source these development candidates from both our internal drug discovery programs and our continued in-licensing efforts. Our initial therapeutic areas of focus are HIV, cancer and inflammatory disease. We believe that we are well-positioned to create shareholder value through our development activities given the ability to achieve clinical proof-of-concept relatively quickly and cost-effectively in these disease categories. The Company's goal is to initiate clinical studies on three compounds this year. These include RDEA806 and our lead compound from our 900 series, both non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) for the treatment of HIV, and RDEA119, a mitogen-activated ERK kinase (MEK) inhibitor for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases.
Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include statements regarding Ardea's ability to commercialize pharmaceutical products and achieve success. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties are described more fully in Ardea's most recently filed SEC documents, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, under the headings "Risk Factors." All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Ardea undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.
Ardea Biosciences, Inc.CONTACT: Barry D. Quart, Pharm.D., President and Chief Executive Officerof Ardea Biosciences, Inc., +1-760-602-8422
Web site: http://www.ardeabiosciences.com//
