Ciara Kennedy

Dr. Kennedy joined the Aristea Board of Directors in May 2019. Currently, Dr. Kennedy serves as President and CEO of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to Amplyx, Dr. Kennedy was COO of Lumena Pharmaceuticals, driving the development of assets licensed from Pfizer and Sanofi and securing venture capital financing. Lumena was acquired by Shire Pharmaceuticals in June 2014. Prior to Lumena, she was a senior strategist and VP of operations at Cypress Bioscience, where she played a key role in obtaining FDA approval for Savella®, a therapy for fibromyalgia. Additionally, Dr. Kennedy held several positions in the program and alliance department of Biogen Idec, managing projects spanning the drug discovery and development continuum.

Dr. Kennedy received her doctorate at the Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and continued her research in the field of apoptotic proteases at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla, California. In 2004, she became a member of the inaugural class of the Rady School of Management at University of California, San Diego, where she earned her MBA.