Ardelyx Appoints William Bertrand, Jr. to Its Board of Directors

FREMONT, Calif., Oct. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARDX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on gastrointestinal and cardio-renal diseases, today announced that William Bertrand, Jr., joined the Company's Board of Directors. Mr. Bertrand has held key leadership positions in business and corporate development, legal, compliance, sales and marketing, and regulatory and corporate affairs.

Mr. Bertrand is Executive Vice President, General Counsel for Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a position that he recently assumed. Prior, he served as Senior Vice President, Acting Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel for Salix Pharmaceuticals, and remained as General Manager to complete the integration of the company's $14 billion acquisition by Valeant Pharmaceuticals in April 2015. Mr. Bertrand had a twelve year tenure at MedImmune, where he served as its first Corporate Compliance Officer and first General Counsel and held a variety of corporate strategy roles. Mr. Bertrand received a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin and a B.S. in biology from Wayne State University. Mr. Bertrand has previously served on numerous boards, including BrainCells, Inc. and Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corporation.  

"Bill brings extensive experience helping companies grow through early stages of development and into commercialization," Mike Raab, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ardelyx remarked. "His expertise, both operationally and as General Counsel, will be of great importance as we continue to accelerate the advancement of our lead programs and develop into a commercial-ready company."

"Ardelyx is uniquely positioned within the life sciences, both in terms of the strength and track record of its senior team, as well as its strategy addressing diseases with substantial unmet needs." said Mr. Bertrand. "I am enthusiastic to be a part of this accomplished group and to contribute to further progress of the company."

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 gastrointestinal and cardio-renal 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, Ardelyx has discovered and designed tenapanor, which it is evaluating for the treatment of IBS-C and for the control of hyperphosphatemia in CKD patients on dialysis. In addition to tenapanor, Ardelyx is developing RDX022, a non-absorbed polymer for the treatment of hyperkalemia, or high potassium, in kidney and heart disease patients. Ardelyx is also advancing several research programs focused in gastrointestinal and cardio-renal 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 Ardelyx's future development plans for tenapanor and RDX022 and the potential of Ardelyx's 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 research and the clinical development process. 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 quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 12, 2015, and its future current and periodic reports to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140619/119451

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ardelyx-appoints-william-bertrand-jr-to-its-board-of-directors-300166241.html

SOURCE Ardelyx