Ardelyx, Inc. announced the appointment of Mike Kelliher as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy. Mr. Kelliher, an accomplished leader with more than 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, brings to Ardelyx an extensive array of mergers and acquisitions, business development, strategy, finance and operational leadership expertise from leading biotechnology and global pharmaceutical companies. Most recently, Mr. Kelliher served as Group Vice President, M&A and Business Development, at Horizon Therapeutics, a global biotechnology company focused on researching, developing and commercializing medicines for rare, autoimmune and severe inflammatory diseases.

Mr. Kelliher joined Horizon in 2014 and held roles of increasing responsibility on the team that led an aggressive growth and expansion agenda through acquisitions, development collaborations and other transactions, including the acquisition of Horizon by Amgen. He was instrumental in transforming Horizon into a $28 billion innovation-driven biotech company. Prior to his time at Horizon, from 2009 to 2014, Mr. Kelliher held financial roles at Elan Corporation (now Perrigo Company), a leading global pharmaceutical company where he oversaw strategic partnerships and collaborations and advised its Board of Directors and senior leadership on investments, business development, product commercialization and asset monetization.

Mr. Kelliher began his career in banking, public accounting and corporate finance and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University College Cork (Ireland). He is also an Associated Chartered Accountant.