NRG Therapeutics expands senior team with newly-created roles
The company, which is targeting a novel mechanism to address mitochondrial dysfunction, has unveiled Sarah Almond as VP of Translational Biology, David Brocklebank as Director of Clinical Operations and Kathryn Oliver as Director of Project Management.
NRG has identified a novel regulator of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) which is essential for pore opening and amenable to small molecule inhibition.
This breakthrough has enabled the company to develop a new class of small molecule mPTP inhibitors which are designed to penetrate the brain effectively when taken orally. First-in-human studies of its lead development candidate NRG5051 are on track to commence in early 2026.
Sarah Almond will be responsible for preclinical translational biology and will support the clinical biomarker strategy; David Brocklebank will look after clinical operations and support delivery of the phase 1 and 2 clinical trials; Kathryn Oliver will provide project management support for NRG’s clinical asset NRG5051 and preclinical pipeline.
Almond brings three decades of scientific experience gained in biotechs and big pharma with a focus on CNS drug discovery. She has a strong record of advancing small-molecule programs from early discovery through IND and into clinical development.
Most recently she was Head of Pharmacology at Astellas ESM-UK and prior to that at Mission Therapeutics supporting its Parkinson’s disease project into Phase I, guiding translational strategy and biomarker development. Earlier career experience includes at Charles River Laboratories, Takeda, AstraZeneca, and Merck.
Brocklebank is a clinical operations specialist with 37 years’ industry experience across all stages of clinical development including senior roles in Clinical Operations and Project Management at Shire Pharmaceuticals, Kissei Pharma Europe, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Takeda and Ono Pharma UK.
Most recently he was Director, Clinical Operations at Kynos Therapeutics and prior to that at Outpost Medicine. In his early career he was a pharmacist in the NHS.
Oliver has 15 years' experience in biotech drug discovery and development having transitioned from a career as a medicinal chemist into project management. Having gained experience in biotech project management at Macomics and RxCelerate following a period in the NHS, she has scientific research experience in industry from roles at Cellzome, Cambridge Biotechnology and UCB Pharma.
As reported, the team expansion follows NRG’s recent £50m series B financing led by SV Health Investors’ Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF) in a syndicate of leading international life science venture investors that also included British Business Bank, M Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund and Criteria Bio Ventures alongside existing investors Omega Funds and Brandon Capital.
The new funds provide runway for completion of a Phase 2 clinical proof of concept study of NRG5051 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)/motor neuron disease (MND), while also generating meaningful clinical data in Parkinson’s patients through a Phase 1b study.
NRG co-founder and CEO Neil Miller said: “I am delighted to welcome Sarah, David and Kathryn to the team. Their combined skills and expertise will enable us to efficiently progress #NRG5051 through first-in-human clinical trials and into a PoC in #ALS/#MND, and to lay the ground for development in other indications including #Parkinson’s.
“They join us at a pivotal time as we seek to demonstrate the therapeutic potential of NRG’s first-in-class #mPTP inhibitors as disease modifying medicines for neurodegenerative diseases.”
NRG operates a semi-virtual business model, with an in-house R & D leadership and operations team in Stevenage, UK complemented by the expertise of experienced drug-discovery outsourcing partners. These new appointments grow the team to 11 including the three founders.