Neurona Therapeutics Appoints James Stutz as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer

SAN FRANCISCO, July 31, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Neurona Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company advancing regenerative cell therapy candidates for the treatment of neurological disorders, today announced the appointment of James Stutz, a business and finance executive with over 20 years of experience in the biopharma industry, as chief financial officer (CFO) and chief business officer (CBO).

“We are delighted to welcome James to the Neurona team and look forward to the value he will bring as we continue to advance our ongoing clinical studies of NRTX-1001 in adults with drug-resistant focal epilepsy and work to maximize the potential opportunities ahead for our novel cell therapy approach in other focal epilepsy conditions and Alzheimer’s disease,” said Cory R. Nicholas, Ph.D., Neurona’s chief executive officer. “James brings extensive business and operational experience in private and public companies as well as the venture capital world which makes him an excellent choice to lead our finance and business operations.”

“I am excited to join Neurona at this important stage in the company’s development as it generates a growing body of positive clinical data supporting the development of NRTX-1001 as a potentially life-changing new therapy for focal epilepsy,” said Mr. Stutz. “Furthermore, it’s an honor to join this talented and dedicated team that is committed to developing new regenerative cell therapies to improve the lives of patients living with chronic neurological disorders.”

Mr. Stutz has 20 years of experience in the biopharma industry across multiple operating roles in private and public biotech companies as well as in venture capital investment, and management consulting. Prior to joining Neurona, he served as CBO at Actym Therapeutics, a private company developing microbial cell therapies designed to overcome the tumor microenvironment, and prior to that as head of business development at Instil Bio, a global public, clinical stage, cell therapy company developing tumor infiltrating lymphocytes for the treatment of cancer. Before joining Instil Bio, Mr. Stutz was the CFO at Tolerion, and CBO at Tioma Therapeutics. Earlier in his career he held roles of increasing responsibility at InterMune, CoMentis, and Alios BioPharma (acquired by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson). Prior to holding operating roles in biopharma companies, Mr. Stutz was a principal with Essex Woodlands Health Ventures where he focused on investments in the biopharma and life sciences tools space including ProteinSimple (acquired by BioTechne), Revance Therapeutics, IntegenX (acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific) and Symphogen (acquired by Servier). He was also a senior consultant with Strategic Decisions Group and prior to his career in the life science industry was a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force. Mr. Stutz earned an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and a B.A. in business economics, from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

About Neurona
Neurona is focused on developing regenerative cell therapy candidates that have single-dose curative potential. Neurona is developing off-the-shelf, allogeneic neural cell therapy candidates that are designed to provide long-term repair of dysfunctional neural networks for multiple neurological disorders. For more information about Neurona, visit www.neuronatherapeutics.com

Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including risks and uncertainties inherent in clinical development of therapeutic candidates and obtaining data to support regulatory approval. NRTX-1001 is an investigational candidate and is being evaluated in ongoing clinical trials. NRTX-1001 has not been approved by any regulatory authority for commercial use or deemed to be safe or effective for any indication.  

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