Ciara Kennedy Named Rady School Entrepreneur of the Year
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The Rady School of Management and the Sullivan Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation honored biotech entrepreneur and Rady alumna Ciara Kennedy, PhD (MBA ’06), with the Rady School-Sullivan Center Entrepreneurial Achievement Award at the center’s Year-End Venture Showcase and Demo Day on May 28, 2026. Rady School Dean Lisa Ordóñez presented the award, citing Kennedy’s contributions to biotechnology innovation, company building and therapeutic development.
A Rady School Alumna Among Top Honorees
Kennedy is a member of the Rady School’s inaugural MBA class and the third alumna to receive the award, following Gene Yeo, PhD (MBA ’10), in 2023 and Niall O’Donnell, PhD (MBA ’06), in 2024.
Leadership at Sorriso Pharmaceuticals
Today, Kennedy is the founder, president and chief executive officer of Sorriso Pharmaceuticals. Over the course of her career, she has launched and scaled companies that advanced treatments for patients with serious and rare diseases.
Building Biotech Companies
Kennedy co-founded Reneo Pharmaceuticals and Mirum Pharmaceuticals. Both companies became publicly traded, facilitated more than $500 million in financings, and contributed to more than $2 billion in merger and acquisition transactions. Her work has helped bring therapies to patients, including Savella® for fibromyalgia and Livmarli for rare pediatric liver diseases.
Before founding Sorriso, Kennedy was president and CEO of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, where she led the development of treatments for life-threatening infections in immunocompromised patients and guided the company through its acquisition by Pfizer in 2021. She earlier served as chief operating officer of Lumena Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Shire in 2014. She also held leadership positions at Cypress Bioscience and began her biotechnology career at Biogen Idec.
Ciara Kennedy, PhD (MBA ’06)
‘Great Ideas with Great People’
Accepting the award, Kennedy said one of the most rewarding parts of her career is connecting “great ideas with great people.” She emphasized that the therapies she helped develop have improved patient outcomes, restored childhood experiences for young patients, and eased burdens on families.
She also praised San Diego’s life sciences community as a collaborative environment in which people and organizations help one another succeed, noting that success in biotechnology is rarely achieved alone.
Concluding her remarks, Kennedy expressed gratitude for the people she has worked alongside throughout her career. “The privilege of working with great people to do great things has brought so much value to my life,” she said.
About Kennedy
Kennedy holds a PhD in biochemistry and a Master of Medical Science in biochemistry and immunology from Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland, as well as an MBA from the Rady School of Management.
As a founder, executive and mentor, Kennedy continues to show how entrepreneurship can drive impact in health care while inspiring the next generation of leaders from the Rady School community.
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