Kennedy named new CEO of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals

Dr. Ciara Kennedy has been named president and chief executive officer of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, a company that develops novel antifungal agents for life-threatening fungal infections.
The company also named Dr. Karen Shaw as chief scientific officer. Mike Grey, the current CEO, will become the executive chairman of the Amplyx Board of Directors.
"Dr. Kennedy and Dr. Shaw have made tremendous contributions to Amplyx that have resulted in the company's rapid advancement of its preclinical and clinical development programs," Grey said in a statement. "Ciara's appointment to president and CEO reflects her impressive leadership and corporate strategy expertise, while Karen's antimicrobial drug R&D experience will be invaluable as the company sharpens its focus on developing novel classes of antifungal drugs and progresses its lead drug candidate, APX001, through the clinic."
Prior to her time at Amplyx, Kennedy worked at Shire Pharmaceuticals as vice president and cholestatic liver disease program head. Shire had acquired Lumena Pharmaceuticals, where Kennedy had been chief operations officer. While at Lumena, she helped raised $78 million in venture funding for clinical program development.
"In taking on the role of president and CEO, I am honored to lead such a highly accomplished and productive team that has been able to quickly advance early science into a potential medical breakthrough,” Kennedy said. “Amplyx has made remarkable progress over the past year, and we are well-positioned to bring forth the first new class of antifungal drugs in 15 years."