CARLSBAD, Calif., July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ardea Biosciences, Inc. held its 2007 Annual Meeting of Stockholders today in Costa Mesa, California. At the meeting, the Ardea stockholders approved all of the proposals submitted for approval by Ardea, including:
-- Election of Jack S. Remington, MD and Kevin C. Tang as directors serving in Class I of Ardea’s Board of Directors. -- Declassification of the Board of Directors, which will result in all directors being elected on an annual basis, beginning with the annual meeting in 2008. Due to this change, Ardea’s directors will be held accountable to its stockholders on an annual basis, rather than over a three-year period. -- Approval of amendments to Ardea’s Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws to eliminate certain anti-takeover protections and change certain other provisions. The changes put more control in the hands of Ardea’s stockholders by, for example, allowing stockholders to remove directors without cause and allowing significant stockholders to act independently of management by having the ability to call special meetings of stockholders. The changes also eliminated the supermajority vote required to amend Ardea’s Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws and limited the Board’s ability to change the number of directors to a range of 5 to 11 directors. -- Ratification of the selection of Stonefield Josephson, Inc. as Ardea’s independent auditors for its fiscal year ending December 31, 2007.
Final voting results will be published in the Company’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the third quarter of 2007.
Following the formal business of the meeting, Barry D. Quart, PharmD, President and CEO, gave a presentation on the Company’s business and discussed the goals for 2007 and 2008. These goals include completion of the Phase 1 clinical study of RDEA806 (Ardea’s HIV 800 Series), initiating first-in-man studies on a compound from Ardea’s HIV 900 Series program, initiating a Phase 1 clinical trial for RDEA119 from Ardea’s Cancer 100 Series program, and initiating first-in-man studies on a compound from Ardea’s Inflammatory Diseases 200 Series program.
“We are pleased with the significant strides and milestone achievements in the development plan of our research and development platform,” said Barry D. Quart, PharmD, President and CEO.
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 viral diseases, cancer and inflammatory diseases. We believe that we are well-positioned to create shareholder value through our development activities given our ability to achieve clinical proof-of-concept relatively quickly and cost-effectively in these disease areas. The Company’s goal is to initiate clinical studies on three or more compounds this year. These compounds include RDEA806 and lead compounds from our 900 Series, which are 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. 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 statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: Ardea’s goals, its plan to source development candidates, and its goal of initiating clinical studies on three or more compounds this year. Risks that contribute to the uncertain nature of the forward-looking statements include: risks related to the outcomes of preclinical and clinical trials, risks related to regulatory approvals, delays in commencement of preclinical and clinical tests, and costs associated with internal development and in-licensing activities. These and other 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: Christopher W. Krueger, JD, MBA, Chief Business Officer of ArdeaBiosciences, Inc., +1-760-602-9406
Web site: http://www.ardeabiosciences.com/
