WALTHAM, Mass., Oct. 21, 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 launch of the Derek Forfang Patient Advocate Award to recognize passionate supporters of patients living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) who champion the need for innovation and improved health outcomes for patients. This award was established to honor Derek Forfang, an amazing person who suffered from chronic kidney disease and passed away due to issues related to his disease in 2023. Derek was the inspiration and founding member of the Ardelyx Patient Advisory Council, which was just one of the many committees to which Derek belonged. Derek worked tirelessly to improve the lives of patients, families and caregivers in the CKD community. This award serves to recognize individuals who, like Derek, raise awareness of the challenges that kidney patients face, are willing to be the voice for their community and deserve to be recognized for their contributions.

“There are so many individuals, patients, family members and caregivers, who are making incredible efforts to advocate for patients with chronic kidney disease,” said Alan Ryan, DEdMin, Senior Director of Patient Advocacy at Ardelyx. “At Ardelyx, we believe that it is critical to support, celebrate and advance those voices and believe there is no better way to do that than to continue the legacy of our friend and partner, Derek Forfang. There are so many people who are deserving of this recognition, and we encourage everyone in the community to submit a nomination.”

Ardelyx is now accepting nominations for the Derek Forfang Patient Advocate Award. Candidates for the award can be nominated by anyone in the community at large and are considered for the award by the Derek Forfang Patient Advisory Council (DFPAC). To be eligible for the award, nominees must demonstrate achievements and contributions to advocate for CKD patients, which could include raising awareness, educating others, advancing research, advocating for the community and bringing the community together, among many other efforts. Recipients of the Derek Forfang Patient Advocate Award will receive a $1,000 honorarium and a $4,000 donation to be made to a non-profit organization supporting the CKD community.

Nominations can be submitted online at http://ardelyx.com/DFPAAward. The deadline for nominations is January 31, 2025. Full Terms and Conditions for the award can be found at http://ardelyx.com/DFPAAward.

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.

Investor and Media Contact:
Caitlin Lowie
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