Ambrx Appoints Stephen Kaldor CEO

Ambrx Appoints Stephen Kaldor CEO

SAN DIEGO, July 24 -- Ambrx, Inc., today announced the appointment of Stephen Kaldor, Ph.D., as President and Chief Executive Officer. Kaldor, who also joins the company's Board of Directors, has nearly two decades of success in multiple assignments in emerging biotechnology and large pharmaceutical companies.

 

Kaldor joins Ambrx from Takeda San Diego, Inc., the U.S. Discovery Research Center for Takeda Pharmaceuticals, where he served as President and Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to this he was President and Chief Scientific Officer of Syrrx, Inc., a structure-based drug discovery company, and led Syrrx's transformation into a research and development operation with multiple clinical-stage product candidates. His leadership was integral to the positioning of Syrrx for its $270 million acquisition by Takeda in March 2005. Prior to joining Syrrx, Kaldor worked in drug discovery and development management positions with Eli Lilly and Company. Kaldor is co-inventor of multiple compounds that have advanced into clinical development, including Viracept(TM), a marketed HIV protease inhibitor.

"Steve has led successful transformations of companies with platform technologies into strong, product-focused businesses," said Richard D. DiMarchi, Ph.D., Ambrx's chairman. "We're rapidly assembling a broad pipeline of protein drugs optimized for efficacy, safety and ease of use. Steve's combined business and science acumen perfectly positions him to lead Ambrx through its next phase of growth."

"I am exceptionally pleased to join Ambrx at this exciting stage of its development," said Dr. Kaldor. "The company continues to make rapid progress on the application of protein medicinal chemistry to generate biologic-based product candidates with superior drug properties. The recent addition of Merck Serono as a collaborative partner for our first clinical stage asset, ARX201, a next-generation long-acting human growth hormone, is further testament to the value potential for Ambrx and ReCODE(TM) technology, and provides Ambrx with an opportunity to invest in additional innovative internal projects."

About Ambrx

Ambrx, Inc., is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of first-in-class and best-in-class BioSuperior(TM), protein-based drugs. Using its technology, the company can overcome the performance limitations of high-value commercial proteins by improving their efficacy, safety and ease of use. Ambrx's core ReCODE(TM) technology enables the precise, site-specific substitution of a novel amino acid within a protein. This allows the conjugation of proteins with additional molecules that can serve to modulate their pharmacokinetic profile or biological function. Ambrx's ReCODE(TM) technology is applicable to multiple protein products across numerous therapeutic areas. Ambrx has successfully and rapidly applied its innovative technology platform to advance into the clinic with ARX201, its first proprietary molecule, and is building a broad pipeline of additional product opportunities. For additional information, call 858.875.2400 or visit http://www.ambrx.com.