Lucy Lu, MD, has been named president and chief executive officer of Fortress Biotech’s subsidiary Avenue Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Lu has served as interim chief executive officer of Avenue since its inception. Also, Robyn Hunter has been appointed chief financial officer of Fortress, a role formerly held by Dr. Lu.

Dr. Lindsay A. Rosenwald, Fortress’ chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, “Lucy has been essential in building Avenue, and we are thrilled to announce her official appointment as Chief Executive Officer. Lucy’s financial and drug development expertise uniquely qualifies her to lead Avenue, which completed a successful $38 million IPO last week and plans to initiate a Phase 3 clinical trial this year for its lead therapy IV Tramadol in the management of postoperative pain. In addition, we are excited to announce that Robyn will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer of Fortress. Robyn was previously Vice President and Corporate Controller of Fortress, where she has been instrumental in the implementation of our financial and operational strategy. I look forward to working with Robyn and Lucy in these new roles.”

Ms. Hunter has more than 30 years of financial and operational experience across many industries. She served as Fortress’ vice president and corporate controller since June 2011, where she executed financial and operational processes, procedures and policies in support of the Company’s growth strategy. Prior to Fortress, Ms. Hunter was senior vice president and chief financial officer of Schochet Associates