NRG Therapeutics Ltd bags £50m in Series B financing

The oversubscribed financing was led by SV Health Investors’ Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF), a specialist venture fund dedicated to investing in companies developing or enabling novel therapeutics for dementia. DDF was joined by a syndicate of leading international life science venture investors: British Business Bank, M Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund and Criteria Bio Ventures alongside existing investors Omega Funds and Brandon Capital. Founding investor Parkinson’s UK via its drug development arm the Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech, remains an active and supportive investor.

The financing will enable NRG Therapeutics to achieve clinical proof of concept in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), while generating meaningful clinical data in Parkinson’s patients through a Phase Ib study. Last December, the company had got $5m from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for the development of small molecule inhibitors of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) to treat neurodegenerative diseases. mPTP inhibition has been demonstrated to protect neurones, reduce neuroinflammation and improve motor function in pre-clinical disease models. NRG Therapeutics’ lead asset, NRG5051, has completed IND-enabling studies in pre-clinical models of Parkinson’s and ALS and is on track to enter the clinic in early 2026.

Parkinson’s is one of the fastest growing neurodegenerative conditions with a global prevalence predicted to double by 2050. There is currently no treatment available halt progression of Parkinson’s, with existing medicines providing temporary symptomatic relief only. ALS is a rare, rapidly progressing neurodegenerative disease . In 2023 the FDA approved Qalsody (tofersen) as a disease-modifying treatment for a rare genetic (SOD1) form of ALS based on a blood-based biomarker endpoint. According to NRG Therapeutics, the majority of patients with sporadic disease remain poorly treated by existing medicines.

In association with the Series B raise, Laurence Barker (SV Health Investors), Emma Johnson (British Business Bank), Charlotte Kremers (M Ventures) and Florian Muellershausen (Novartis Venture Fund) will join NRG’s board of directors. In addition, the company is delighted that Professor David Dexter, Director of Research at Parkinson’s UK, has been appointed as a special advisor on Parkinson’s.