Ardelyx Appoints Experienced Biopharma Executive, Eric Foster, as Chief Commercial Officer

WALTHAM, Mass., Aug. 08, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ardelyx, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARDX), a biopharmaceutical company founded with a mission to discover, develop and commercialize innovative, first-in-class medicines that meet significant unmet medical needs, today announced the appointment of Eric Foster as the company’s Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Foster is an experienced leader with more than 23 years of commercial experience for significant global biotech and pharmaceutical companies across numerous complex rare disease and specialty markets. Mr. Foster will be responsible for leading all commercial strategies for the company’s two first-in-class medicines, IBSRELA^® (tenapanor) and XPHOZAH^® (tenapanor), as well as supporting the development and launch of future commercial products.

“It is a distinct pleasure to welcome Eric to Ardelyx. He is a seasoned leader with extensive and unique expertise, and he will be invaluable as we accelerate our performance,” said Mike Raab, president and chief executive officer of Ardelyx. “Eric’s proven track record of developing businesses across multiple therapeutic areas, disease states and international markets provides an important depth of experience to lead our commercial organization.”

“I am incredibly excited to be joining Ardelyx at this critical juncture,” said Mr. Foster. “Ardelyx is a strong, patient- and mission-driven organization that is bringing first-in-class medicines to patients who need new options to treat their diseases. The early success of IBSRELA and XPHOZAH is notable and demonstrates the significant opportunity that exists to broaden the number of patients who may benefit from these important medicines. Ardelyx’s high performing culture and thoughtful approach to commercial execution, combined with a strong financial position, sets the foundation for long-term, sustainable growth. I am looking forward to working with Mike and the entire team to continue to advance our commercial strategy and be a leader in the industry.”

Most recently, Mr. Foster served as Senior Vice President and U.S. General Manager at Amgen following the acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics in October 2023 where he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Gout and Ophthalmology Business Units. While at Horizon, Mr. Foster established a new market strategy and transformed the pricing and access strategies, creating customer stability and record growth.

Prior to his time at Horizon Therapeutics, from 2010 to 2021, Mr. Foster held roles of increasing responsibility within the sales and marketing organization at GlaxoSmithKline across a variety of immunology and rare disease products, including serving as Vice President of Immunology Marketing, Senior Global Marketing Director and Field Sales Vice President. Mr. Foster began his career in sales and market access at Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Foster holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics degree from the University of Georgia and a Master of Business Administration from Auburn University.

About Ardelyx
Ardelyx was founded with a mission to discover, develop and commercialize innovative, first-in-class medicines that meet significant unmet medical needs. Ardelyx has two commercial products approved in the United States, IBSRELA^® (tenapanor) and XPHOZAH^® (tenapanor). Ardelyx has agreements for the development and commercialization of tenapanor outside of the U.S. Kyowa Kirin commercializes PHOZEVEL^® (tenapanor) for hyperphosphatemia in Japan. A New Drug Application for tenapanor for hyperphosphatemia has been submitted in China with Fosun Pharma. Knight Therapeutics commercializes IBSRELA in Canada. For more information, please visit https://ardelyx.com/ and connect with us on X (formerly known as Twitter), LinkedIn and Facebook.

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 opportunity to accelerate the Company’s performance and set a foundation for long-term, sustainable growth, and the opportunity to broaden the number of patients who may benefit from IBSRELA and XPHOZAH. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause 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, uncertainties associated with the development of, regulatory process for, and commercialization of drugs in the U.S. and internationally. 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 1, 2024, and its future current and periodic reports to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investor and Media Contacts:
Caitlin Lowie
clowie@ardelyx.com