NRG Therapeutics appoints neuroscience leader as CMO
NRG Therapeutics has announced the appointment of Dr Claus Sundgreen as Chief Medical Officer (CMO), effective from 1 August 2026.
A recognised leader in neuroscience drug development with expertise in ALS, Dr Sundgreen brings over 25 years of clinical leadership with experience spanning translational medicine and all phases of clinical development from first-in-human studies through registrational trials. He has a proven track record of advancing innovative therapies for neurodegenerative diseases and orphan diseases.
The company says Dr Sundgreen will lead NRG’s clinical development strategy, including overseeing the completion of the ongoing Phase I first-in-human trial of its lead candidate, NRG5051, and the planning and execution of a Phase II PoC trial in ALS, commencing in 2027.
NRG5051 is a first-in-class, orally bioavailable and CNS-penetrant next-generation inhibitor of themitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP), acting through a novel undisclosed mitochondrially-localised protein regulator.
Prior to joining NRG, Dr Sundgreen held senior medical leadership positions across biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in Europe and the United States, providing strategic and operational leadership for innovative therapeutic programmes. This has included roles at HD Immune, Abcuro, VectorY, Tikomed, Orphazyme, uniQure and NeuroSearch.
Sundgreen commented: “I am impressed by the deep scientific understanding behind NRG’s pipeline of mPTP inhibitors and excited by the potential of NRG5051 as a disease-modifying therapeutic for sporadic ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s. With the Phase I trial of NRG5051 progressing well, we have already begun engaging with clinicians and the ALS community to help shape the design of our Phase II PoC trial of NRG5051. This work is supported by very exciting preclinical data demonstrating robust efficacy of NRG5051 in ALS in vivo models, including a profound reduction in neurofilament light chain (NfL), a biomarker of neuronal injury.”