CyDex Inc., a Lenexa-based specialty pharmaceutical company born at Kansas University, announced Thursday that it had hired Jose Rodriguez as vice president of business development.

Rodriguez comes to CyDex from Perrigo Co., where he managed a pipeline of 23 products as business development manager.

At CyDex, Rodriguez will manage a portfolio and seek commercial partnerships for a pipeline that includes drugs under development for asthma, depression, allergy, cancer, arrhythmia and other diseases using CyDex’s Captisol technology, a molecule that improves the delivery of insoluble and unstable active drug ingredients.

Privately held CyDex was spun off from KU in 1993 to continue development of Captisol, which was created at KU’s Higuchi Biosciences Center for Drug Delivery Research. The company has 19 employees.

Two Captisol-enabled products already are marketed globally by Pfizer Inc.: Vfend, an antifungal solution; and Zelodox/Geodon, an injection used to treat schizophrenia.

CyDex also has working agreements with Allergan Inc.; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Daiichi-Suntory Pharma Co. Ltd., of Japan; Merck & Co. Inc.; Mitsubishi Corp., of Japan; OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc.; PTC Pharma AG, of Switzerland; TargeGen Inc.; Taisho Pharmaceuticals, of Japan; and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., of Israel.