Ardelyx Inc. Appoints Dr. Annalisa Jenkins To Its Board Of Directors

FREMONT, Calif., April 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARDX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on cardio-renal, gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases, today announced that Annalisa Jenkins, MBBS, MRCP, has joined the Company's Board of Directors. Dr. Jenkins brings a wealth of senior management and board level experience, having built and led teams advancing programs from scientific research through clinical development, regulatory approval and into healthcare systems globally.

"Annalisa brings a broad range of industry experience to Ardelyx, and we are excited to welcome her to our Board of Directors. Her diverse knowledge of the biopharma industry, and successful track record in the operational, research & development, and medical affairs functions will be a key asset as we continue to progress our clinical programs and augment our pipeline," said Mike Raab, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Dr. Jenkins is Chief Executive Officer of Dimension Therapeutics, Inc., a rare disease company advancing novel, liver-directed treatments for diverse genetic disorders. Prior to joining Dimension, Dr. Jenkins served as Executive Vice President, Head of Global Research and Development for Merck Serono, where she also led global medical affairs and quality. Prior to Merck Serono, Dr. Jenkins held several roles of increasing responsibility at Bristol Myers-Squibb (BMS), most recently serving as Senior Vice President, Global Medical Affairs. During her tenure at BMS, she made significant contributions to the globalization of medical affairs, the progression and approval of a number of key pipeline programs, and the implementation of BMS's business development strategy. Earlier in her career, Dr. Jenkins served as a Medical Officer in the British Royal Navy during the Gulf Conflict in 1991 and subsequently rose to the rank of Surgeon Lieutenant Commander.  Dr. Jenkins graduated in medicine from St. Bartholomew's Hospital London and trained in cardiovascular medicine in the UK National Health Service.  She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Biothera and Viventia Bio Inc.

"Ardelyx has a promising pipeline of innovative, minimally-systemic therapies that can address compelling medical needs while potentially reducing toxicities and other disadvantages associated with current therapies," said Dr. Annalisa Jenkins. "I look forward to contributing through my role on the Board and collaborating with the accomplished team at Ardelyx."

About Ardelyx, Inc.

Ardelyx is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative, minimally-systemic, small molecule therapeutics that work exclusively in the gastrointestinal tract to treat cardio-renal, gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases. Ardelyx has developed a proprietary drug discovery and design platform enabling it, in a rapid and cost-efficient manner, to discover and design novel drug candidates. Utilizing this platform, the Company has discovered and designed tenapanor. Ardelyx formed a partnership with AstraZeneca in October 2012 to develop and commercialize tenapanor.  The Company and AstraZeneca have completed two Phase 2b clinical trials evaluating tenapanor to treat patients with constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C), and to treat hyperphosphatemic patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis (CKD-5D).  In an ongoing Phase 2a clinical study in CKD patients, tenapanor is being evaluated for its effect on kidney function and fluid overload. In addition to tenapanor, Ardelyx has discovered small molecule NaP2b inhibitors for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in CKD-5D, a program licensed to Sanofi, and independently is advancing several additional research programs focused in cardio-renal, gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases. Ardelyx is located in Fremont, California. For more information, please visit Ardelyx's website at www.ardelyx.com.

Forward Looking Statements

To the extent that statements contained in this press release are not descriptions of historical facts regarding Ardelyx, they are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor of the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995, including the potential for tenapanor in treating IBS-C patients, the potential for tenapanor in treating hyperphosphatemia in patients with end stage renal disease on dialysis, and the potential of our drug discovery and design platform. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause the development of tenapanor, or Ardelyx's future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainties inherent in the clinical development process, AstraZeneca's right under the license agreement to choose which indication or indications for which tenapanor will be developed, and AstraZeneca's right under the license agreement to terminate the agreement upon written notice to Ardelyx. Ardelyx undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to Ardelyx's business in general, please refer to Ardelyx's annual report filed on Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 5, 2015, and its future periodic reports to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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SOURCE Ardelyx