Ardea Biosciences promotes Stephen Davis to new COO position

Ardea Biosciences names Stephen Davis as COO

SAN DIEGO — Ardea Biosciences Inc. on Monday hired Stephen Davis as to the newly-created position of chief operating officer.

Davis is the former president and CEO of Neurogen Corp., which was bought by Ligand Pharmaceuticals in December. He spent 15 years at Neurogen in positions including chief financial officer, chief business officer and chief operating officer before becoming CEO.

Shares of Ardea added $1.65, or 7.5 percent, to $23.77 in afternoon trading. The stock earlier hit a new 52-week high of $24.