XORTX Welcomes New Member to the Board of Directors

CALGARY, Alberta, April 08, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XORTX Therapeutics Inc. ("XORTX" or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: XRTX | TSXV: XRTX | Frankfurt: ANUA WKN: A3UNZ), a late-stage clinical pharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies to treat progressive kidney disease, welcomes Abigail Jenkins, a biotech industry veteran with deep experience with the commercialization of therapies for renal and cardiovascular disease, to its Board of Directors.

Abigail “Abbey” L. Jenkins, M.S., is the current President and CEO of Gamida Cell (NASDAQ: GMDA) and a member of its Board of Directors. Ms. Jenkins brings over 20 years of leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry delivering life-enhancing therapies from research to commercialization for patients in need. Prior to joining Gamida Cell, she was the Chief Commercial and Business Officer at Lyndra Therapeutics, where she established and led global commercial, business development, corporate strategy and portfolio management across multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to Lyndra, she held the positon of Senior Vice President and Business Unit Head of Vaccines at Emergent BioSolutions, where she oversaw Lyndra’s largest therapeutic division from discovery through commercialization. Ms. Jenkins also served as Chief Commercial Officer and U.S. Business Head at Aquinox Pharmaceuticals. Additionally, she has held senior commercial and business development positions at Relypsa, Actavis, Pfizer and Medimmune/AZ.

Ms. Jenkins holds a Master of Science in biotechnology and biotech business enterprise from Johns Hopkins University, a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and biology from Indiana University, and a certificate of achievement in General Management as a Kellogg Executive Scholar. She was recognized in 2022 as one of the PharmaVoice 100, one of the industry’s 100 Most Inspiring Leaders, Disrupter category, for change agents who define excellence in leadership in biopharma.

Anthony Giovinazzo, XORTX’s Chairman of the Board commented, “We are delighted to welcome Abbey to the Board of Directors. Abbey is a highly skilled and experienced leader who will significantly contribute to the Board of Directors carrying out its mandate. Her experience with innovative drug delivery systems and the launches of novel therapeutics will be extremely valuable to the Company as it navigates from a Phase 3 clinical company to being prepared for commercialization of its drug candidates.”