NRG Therapeutics Appoints Dr Jonathan Savidge as Independent Chair

Stevenage, UK, 26 April 2023 - NRG Therapeutics, Ltd., an innovative neuroscience company targeting mitochondrial dysfunction, is pleased to announce that it has appointed Jonathan Savidge Ph.D to its Board of Directors as independent Non-Executive Chair.

Jonathan’s appointment reflects the maturation of the company, having closed its series A financing of £16m in late 2022.

Jonathan brings over 20 years of experience in the biotech and pharma industries focused on strategic partnerships (investments, licensing, and M&A) to progress development of new therapeutics. He is currently CEO of Kynos Therapeutics. Prior to this Jonathan was founding CEO of neuroscience company Syndesi Therapeutics, raising finance and building a team to develop a small molecule through early clinical development as a potential treatment for cognitive deficits associated with Alzheimer’s and other disorders. Syndesi was acquired by AbbVie in March 2022 for a total deal value of up to $1 BN.

Jonathan previously held senior business and corporate development roles at Evotec, Bicycle Therapeutics and Proximagen. During this time, he led numerous varied partnership deals with pharma and biotech companies across both pre-clinical and clinical stage assets. He began his career in research at Novartis before transitioning into business/corporate development. He has a Ph.D in Pharmacology and Neuroscience, from the University of Manchester and a BA in Physiological Sciences from The University of Oxford.

Commenting on his appointment as NRG’s Chair, Jonathan Savidge said, “I am thrilled to join the team at NRG as the company has generated exciting data from its discovery programmes targeting mitochondrial biology. Its novel approach to inhibiting the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) in brain cells, is compelling and represents a first in class mechanism for the potential treatment of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and ALS.

Welcoming Jonathan to the Board, Neil Miller, NRG Therapeutics co-founder and CEO said, “Jonathan has the ideal background and expertise to support NRG’s development as we drive our pre-clinical programmes through IND enabling studies and towards the clinic. He brings a wealth of experience in fundraising and business and corporate development coupled with a strong scientific background in our therapeutic area, and a detailed understanding of drug discovery and development.”

Jonathan takes on the role from Arthur Roach Ph.D, who remains on the Board as Non-Executive Director representing NRG’s founding investor, Parkinson's UK.

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About NRG Therapeutics – http://www.nrgtherapeutics.com

NRG Therapeutics is a neuroscience drug discovery company building a pipeline of disease-modifying mitochondrial therapeutics to slow or halt the progression of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neurone disease (MND).

The company’s pre-clinical pipeline of small molecule assets is based on inhibiting the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) through a novel mechanism of action. Inhibition of the mPTP has been shown to protect neurones, reduce neuroinflammation and extend survival in pre-clinical disease models.

Based at the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC), UK, NRG Therapeutics is a private company with equity investment from Parkinson’s UK, Omega Funds and Brandon Capital. The company has also received grant funding from The Michael J. Fox Foundation, Innovate UK (Biomedical Catalyst Award), and is the industrial partner for a FightMND Drug Discovery grant awarded to WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research).

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