NMD Pharma adds new capabilities with several senior recruits to support its growing business and pipeline

Aarhus, Denmark, 11 July 2024 – NMD Pharma A/S, a clinical-stage biotech company dedicated to developing novel and improved treatments for patients living with severe neuromuscular diseases, today announces that it has hired three senior recruits to its management team to support its growing business and pipeline. Peter Kasten will begin as Vice President Finance in August, Cecilia Sparr Eskilsson as Vice President Project Management in August and Maja B. Nielsen as People & Culture Director in September.

Mr. Kasten has over 15 years of experience in financial operations. Most recently, he was at Danske Fragtmænd, a Danish transport and logistics business, for several years in different roles of rising seniority. Prior roles include as Manager, Advisory Services – Finance and Performance Management at EY (Ernst & Young) and, notably, 10 years in roles of increasing responsibility at Novo Nordisk, where his work included projects to establish research centres in the USA and Denmark relating to its obesity programs.

Dr. Eskilsson is an accomplished scientist with over 20 years’ expertise in pharmaceutical drug development at AstraZeneca and LEO Pharma, with extensive experience in leading global scientific and strategic projects through clinical development phases. She will build out the company’s project management organization.

Ms. Nielsen has been leading global Human Resources departments in various companies since 2007. She joins from ENABL, the renewable wind energy company, where she is VP of Global HR. She brings extensive experience in the development of HR strategies, performance processes and training and development policies with companies employing personnel across the globe.

Thomas Holm Pedersen, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of NMD Pharma, said: “Over the last year our business has grown and matured, and we will have three Phase 2 clinical trials initiated and recruiting in North America and Europe by the end of the year. These high-quality additions to our management team, together with some other key senior hires, bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to propel our business forward with timely execution of a growing pipeline and portfolio of projects. I look forward to working with Peter, Cecilia, and Maja.”

NMD Pharma is developing first-in-class, muscle-targeted small molecule inhibitor of the skeletal muscle specific ClC-1 chloride ion channel. Three open Investigational New Drug (IND) studies are progressing for lead development candidate NMD670, including a Phase 2 clinical study in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) (NCT05794139), a Phase 2b study in generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) (NCT06414954) and IND clearance to begin a Phase 2 study in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) (NCT06482437).

Patients interested in learning more about any of these trials are encouraged to read the information on currently active investigational sites which can be found on each on clinicaltrials.gov webpage referenced above or to contact a member of our medical team via email at contact@nmdpharma.com. 

-END-

Contacts
NMD Pharma A/S
Daniel Brennan, SVP Corporate and Commercial Strategy
E-mail: contact@nmdpharma.com  

ICR Consilium
Mary-Jane Elliott / Ashley Tapp / Lindsey Neville
E-mail: NMDPharma@consilium-comms.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 3709 5700 

About NMD Pharma
NMD Pharma A/S is a clinical-stage biotech company developing a first-in-class platform of small molecule therapies selectively and directly targeting the skeletal muscle chloride ion channel (ClC-1) for the treatment of severe neuromuscular disorders. The Company was founded on more than 15 years of muscle physiology research with a focus on regulation of skeletal muscle excitability under physical activity. NMD Pharma has built a world-leading muscle electrophysiology platform leveraging the in-depth know-how of muscle physiology and muscular disorders, small molecule modulators, enabling technologies and tools as well as in vivo pharmacology models for discovering and developing proprietary modulators of neuromuscular function. The Company has built significant clinical and development expertise as its programmes have progressed through the clinic. NMD Pharma has raised ~€155 million from investors including Novo Holdings, Lundbeckfonden BioCapital, INKEF Capital, Roche Venture Fund, and Jeito Capital. Find out more about us online at our website.   

About NMD670
NMD670 is a first-in-class, muscle-targeted small molecule inhibitor of the skeletal muscle specific ClC-1 chloride ion channel. It is NMD Pharma’s lead development program which is being evaluated in 3 Phase 2 clinical studies in neuromuscular diseases. NMD Pharma has demonstrated that CIC-1 inhibition enhances skeletal muscle activation and improves skeletal muscle function. This novel treatment approach has demonstrated compelling preclinical data and clinical results in myasthenia gravis, spinal muscular atrophy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and a range of other neuromuscular disorders. NMD670 has also been granted orphan-drug designation by the U.S. FDA for treatment of generalised myasthenia gravis (gMG). In March 2024 a comprehensive data package on NMD670 was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine which generated significant interest including a research highlight commentary review in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.