Rick Orr

Rick Orr joined Exalys in July, 2020 as President and Chief Executive Officer, and has more than 20 years of operational, development and legal experience. Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Adynxx. Rick previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Corthera where he led the successful sale of the company to Novartis in February 2010. Rick also served as Chief Operating officer of Calixa, where he led the successful sale of the company to Cubist Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, he served as Sr. Vice President, Operations of Cerexa, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Forest Laboratories. During his tenure at Cerexa, the company completed the successful clinical development of Teflaro® (ceftaroline fosamil), a parenteral antibiotic for the treatment of life-threatening infections. Rick was one of the founders of Cerexa and served as General Counsel until the company was acquired by Forest Laboratories in January 2007. Earlier in his career, he served as the Associate General Counsel of Peninsula Pharmaceuticals where he played a central role in structuring the acquisition of Peninsula by Johnson & Johnson. Prior to working at Peninsula, Rick was an attorney at Cooley LLP.

Rick received a JD magna cum laude from the University of San Francisco School of Law. He received a BA from The Ohio State University and an MA from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Rick is a member of the State Bar of California.