pushing the boundaries
of neuroscience

About

Nido Bio is translating today’s neuroscience breakthroughs into tomorrow’s treatments for severe neurological diseases. Leveraging human genetics, we develop precision medicines that address the fundamental biology of disease and restore healthy cell function.

Led by dedicated drug development and neuroscience experts, world-class scientific advisors and an industry-leading investor syndicate, we aim to improve the daily lives of patients suffering from these conditions.

Approach

Neurological diseases affect millions of people around the world.

Most result in a progressive and debilitating loss of function with significant impact on patients’ daily lives. With no effective treatments available, Nido Bio is elevating transformative medicines from a nest of possibilities.

The field of neuroscience is rapidly evolving with advancements in the understanding of human genetics and disease. We are leveraging these breakthroughs to:

Neurological diseases are on the rise, posing a complex healthcare issue for doctors and scientists everywhere. Nido Bio is relentlessly pursuing real solutions on behalf of patients.

Programs

Nido Bio’s multiple programs have the potential to improve the daily lives of patients suffering from debilitating neurological disease.

Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy (SBMA), also known as Kennedy’s disease, is a rare inherited neuromuscular disorder that manifests in men causing progressive weakness and wasting of limb, facial and swallowing muscles, which results in impaired mobility, speech and swallowing.

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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive and rare neurological disease that results in the brain’s loss of control over voluntary movements.

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Rare Tauopathies are a group of progressive neurodegenerative diseases characterized by aggregation and dysfunction of tau protein in the brain leading to cognitive, behavioral, language and movement disorders. 3 of 4

Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) is a progressive and rare neurological disorder that often begins at a younger age than other dementias and leads to marked changes in personality, behavior and/or ability to communicate.

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Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy (SBMA), also known as Kennedy’s disease, is a rare inherited neuromuscular disorder that manifests in men causing progressive weakness and wasting of limb, facial and swallowing muscles, which results in impaired mobility, speech and swallowing.

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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive and rare neurological disease that results in the brain’s loss of control over voluntary movements.

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Rare Tauopathies are a group of progressive neurodegenerative diseases characterized by aggregation and dysfunction of tau protein in the brain leading to cognitive, behavioral, language and movement disorders. 3 of 4

Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) is a progressive and rare neurological disorder that often begins at a younger age than other dementias and leads to marked changes in personality, behavior and/or ability to communicate.

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NIDO-361 for SBMA

Our clinical stage program, NIDO-361, is in development for the treatment of Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy (SBMA).

SBMA, also known as Kennedy’s disease, is a rare monogenic neuromuscular disorder that manifests in men. It causes progressive weakness and wasting of limb, facial and swallowing muscles, which results in impaired mobility, speech, and swallowing. For more information on SBMA, visit The Kennedy’s Disease Association website.

SBMA is caused by an X-linked genetic mutation of the androgen receptor (AR) gene that results in the loss of skeletal muscle and motor neuron function. NIDO-361 is a novel small molecule that binds to the BF3 site – a distinct site from where typical AR targeting small molecules bind – to restore healthy cell function.

“The Kennedy’s Disease Association sees great promise in Nido Bio’s clinical program for NIDO-361. Treating the toxic gain of function in SBMA while simultaneously addressing the loss of function associated with the disease would be a welcome benefit to patients and families affected by Kennedy’s disease.”

Terry Thompson
President
Kennedy’s Disease Association

Additional Programs

Additional pipeline programs center around a novel target with the potential to address multiple disease mechanisms and that has broad clinical application across neurodegenerative and peripheral inflammatory diseases.

The combined mechanisms of protein aggregation, neuroinflammation, and neuronal cell death create a self-sustaining pathological cycle that underpins many neurological and peripheral inflammatory diseases. We are focused on breaking this cycle by developing small molecule modulators of a novel target that can simultaneously activate the cell’s ability to clear protein aggregates (autophagy) while inhibiting neuroinflammation and cell death.

Platform

The opportunities to discover new precision medicines with our approach are significant.

We utilize a functional genomics discovery platform based on human iPSC-derived neurons and tailored screens to identify novel therapeutic targets for neurological diseases. We are collaborating with recognized world leaders in neurology to build this platform. Our initial screens are focused on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal disorders (FTD) and we are leveraging this platform to further build out Nido Bio’s pipeline.

Team

News

Nido Biosciences Presents Clinical Data Supporting the Continued Development of NIDO-361 in SBMA Patients at the 2023 International Kennedy’s Disease Patient Conference

November 5, 2023

Nido Biosciences Emerges as Clinical Stage Company Raising $109 Million to Advance Treatments for Debilitating Neurological Diseases

May 15, 2023

Join Us

Nido Bio is inspired to push the boundaries of neuroscience and improve the daily lives of patients.
Careers

Soar to new heights with Nido Bio.

Exceptional talent, a clear strategy, and a foundation of strong values are critical drivers of success. If you are inspired by our purpose, are motivated to solve complex problems, enjoy a fast-paced, dynamic environment, and are relentlessly focused on making a difference, come join us.

To apply for open positions, send your resume here.

Partnerships

Collaborate with us.

Nido Bio is open to collaborations or partnerships that align with our strategy and have the potential to expand or accelerate our pipeline.

To explore collaborations or partnerships, click here.

Our Values
Our shared values shape who we are and how we fulfill our vision together.
EXCELLENT SCIENCE that makes a difference for our PATIENTS

Tackle scientific problems to make a difference in the lives of patient communities by asking the right questions, leveraging world-class talent, and striving for the highest level of scientific rigor.

TRUST AND RESPECT

Believe in our own and others’ words and actions. Openness to give and receive those words and actions without judgement.

COMMUNICATION

Create a safe environment where people feel encouraged to generate ideas and to voice their opinion.

ACCOUNTABILITY
Take ownership of actions, goals, or deliverables and their outcomes.

FEARLESS INNOVATION

Fearlessly push boundaries to take innovative risks in all parts of the business.

COLLABORATION

Effectively work together, utilizing the diverse skills and knowledge of the group to accomplish a common objective.

DIVERSITY

Encourage and respect heterogeneity of ideas, experiences, identities, and beliefs.

Testimonials

“The opportunity to impact patients while also deepening our understanding of neuroscience motivates me to work at Nido Bio. Taking each result and strategizing on what to do next in an open, attentive environment has afforded me many learning opportunities. At Nido Bio, we strive for excellence and challenge ourselves to answer difficult questions in pursuit of transformative therapeutics.”

Shawn Nelson
Senior Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry

“I love being around such talented, intelligent individuals every day. Our office environment is positive, collaborative, and team oriented. I chose Nido Bio because it’s exciting and rewarding to see the possibility of finding therapies to help patients combat crippling diseases.”

Loan Kraine
Accounts Payable/Payroll Manager

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Jeremy Springhorn, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer

Jeremy has been Chief Executive Officer of Nido Biosciences since April 2021 and has more than 30 years of experience leading scientific, business development and corporate strategy. Prior to joining Nido, Jeremy held various senior positions including Chief Business Officer of Syros Pharmaceuticals, and Partner of Corporate Development at Flagship Pioneering, where he worked with companies in various strategic and corporate development capacities, creating the next generation of startups. Prior to Flagship, Jeremy spent more than 20 years at Alexion. He was one of the original scientists at Alexion as well as one of the original inventors of Soliris®. He moved from research to business development, ultimately becoming the Vice President of Corporate Development. In that role, Jeremy led the acquisitions of Enobia Pharma, Taligen Therapeutics and Orphatec, as well as the partnership with Moderna Therapeutics. Jeremy also served in a key strategic role as Alexion transitioned from a development-stage to a global commercial-stage company. He serves on the boards of directors of uniQure, N.V (NASDAQ:QURE) and NMD Pharma (Private) as well as the Board of Advisors for Mythic Therapeutics.

Jeremy was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans.

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Christina Willwerth

Chief Operating Officer

Christina has been Chief Operating Officer at Nido Biosciences since April 2023 and has 30 years of experience in biopharmaceutical development and business operations. Prior to joining Nido Bio, she was Chief Strategy Officer at Flexion Therapeutics, leading corporate strategy and business prioritization, program/portfolio management and human resources. Christina spent over 12 years in executive leadership roles building Flexion from its early financing, through pipeline evolution, development and commercialization of Zilretta®, and acquisition of the company, with influence across all business areas.  Prior to joining Flexion, she was Vice President, Product Development and a member of the Executive Management team at Viacell, Inc. with cross-functional responsibility for the company’s cellular therapy and fertility preservation development programs. Christina also previously served as Senior Director, Product Development at The Medicines Company (TMC), focused on cardiovascular therapy clinical and product development (Angiomax®), and held ascendant clinical/product development roles at TMC, Astra Pharmaceuticals and Biopure Corporation.

Christina holds a bachelor’s degree in biology with high distinction from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

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Vissia Viglietta, M.D, Ph.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Vissia has been Chief Medical Officer at Nido Biosciences since November 2021. She has over 12 years of experience in Neurology Clinical Development across multiple indications. Prior to joining Nido, she was Vice President of Global Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Wave Life Sciences focusing on rare neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases. Previously, she was Vice President of Global Clinical Development at Decibel Therapeutics focusing on gene therapy. Prior to Decibel, she worked at Merck Serono, Biogen and Amgen with increasing levels of responsibility in late-stage clinical development.  During this time, her focus was primarily multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), including a key role in the development and regulatory approval of Tecfidera® for MS and the launch of the Phase 3 program for aducanumab in AD.

Vissia worked at Harvard Medical School as postdoctoral fellow and subsequently as faculty member. She holds an M.D./Ph.D. from the La Sapienza University of Rome.

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Barry Touré, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery

Barry Touré has led Drug Discovery at Nido since June 2019 and brings over 16 years of drug discovery, team building and leadership experience in startups.

He joined Relay Therapeutics in 2016 as a founding team member and played an instrumental role in building the chemistry function, leading projects, and integrating the platform technologies in medicinal chemistry. Prior to Relay, Barry spent 10 years in the Global Discovery Chemistry organization at Novartis supporting/leading several oncology and neuroscience projects. He has contributed to the discovery of multiple clinical candidates and has authored 40+ patents and peer-reviewed articles.

Barry was an NSERC Canada postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University. He holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. respectively in Chemistry and Medical Sciences from the University of Montreal and was a CHIR doctoral fellow at the University of Alberta, where he earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry.

Mike Clayman, M.D.

Chairman

Mike Clayman, M.D., co-founded Flexion Therapeutics in 2007 and served as president, CEO and a director from inception until its acquisition by Pacira Biosciences in November, 2021. During his tenure Dr. Clayman guided the discovery and development of ZILRETTA® for osteoarthritis-related knee pain. He also serves as chairman of the boards of Anokion SA, a Swiss biotechnology company focused on treating autoimmune disease, and Ribometrix, a US biotechnology company that discovers and develops novel small molecule medicines targeting RNA.

Before founding Flexion, Dr. Clayman had a distinguished career at Eli Lilly and Company, leading numerous divisions engaged in a broad range of activities, from discovery research to clinical investigation to global regulatory affairs. Among his roles, he served as general manager of Chorus, Lilly’s early-phase development accelerator, and as vice president of Lilly Research Laboratories. Prior to Lilly, Dr. Clayman was an assistant professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where his research centered on the immunopathogenesis of renal disease.

Dr. Clayman is the recipient of the Physician Scientist Award from the National Institutes of Health. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.D. from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

Deborah Palestrant, Ph.D., M.B.A.

Director

Deborah Palestrant, Ph.D., M.B.A joined 5AM Ventures in 2018 as Partner and Executive Chair of 4:59 Initiative. Previously, Dr. Palestrant was Vice President of Corporate Development & Strategy at Relay Therapeutics, where she executed business strategy including alliances, partnerships, and other collaborations and led communications. She has over 15 years of life sciences industry experience including drug discovery, company creation, operations, business development, and strategy. Following her postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Palestrant was a lab head at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, where she advanced multiple structure-based drug discovery programs. In 2010, Dr. Palestrant joined Third Rock Ventures as a senior associate and helped to build and launch Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ: BPMC). Upon its launch, Dr. Palestrant served an interim role in operations at Blueprint Medicines. Subsequent to her return to Third Rock Ventures, Dr. Palestrant helped to conceive and launch Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT), and as part of the original founding team, she led the business development group until joining Relay Therapeutics. Dr. Palestrant holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biophysics from Columbia University, an M.B.A from Northeastern University, and was Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at The Scripps Research Institute. She is based in the Boston, MA office.

Jackie Grant, M.B.A., Ph.D.

Director

Jackie has over 15 years of life sciences experience, including science, research, business development and venture investing. She is a principal at Abingworth. Prior, she worked for SV Life Sciences and Genentech. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience and Neuroimmunology from Stanford School of Medicine and her M.B.A. from Stanford School of Business, and she holds a B.S. in Biology from Boston College.

Kouki Harasaki, Ph.D., M.B.A.

Director

Kouki Harasaki is the Founding / Managing Partner at Bioluminescence Ventures.

Dr. Harasaki has over 25 years of biomedical science experience working across major health systems, research institutes, biopharmaceutical corporations, technology companies, and venture capital firms. He has led over $600M in financing deals that have funded over 25 therapeutics programs across stages (discovery to marketed), across therapeutic areas (CVM, Immunology, Oncology, Neuro/CNS), and across modalities (small molecule, biologics, genome editing, cell therapy).

Prior to founding Bioluminescence Ventures, he was a Managing Director at M12 / Microsoft Ventures, where he led Life Science investments and helped develop Microsoft Life Science corporate strategy. Prior to M12, Dr. Harasaki was a senior Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he managed four Bio Fund Partners and worked across the portfolio of 25+ Bio Fund companies.

Prior to his time in venture, Dr. Harasaki held Drug Discovery, Animal Pharmacology, Strategy, Finance, and Business Development roles at Novartis AG and Baxalta/Shire. He holds a B.A. in Molecular/Cell Biology and Asian Studies from Cornell University, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, where he was a Robert S. Kaplan Fellow, and received his Ph.D. in Clinical Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Wellcome Trust Fellow.

Andrew Hedin, M.B.A.

Director

Andrew is a venture capitalist focused on high-growth biotechnology and healthcare companies. He is a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners where he has served on the board or been involved with investments including Kymera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:KYMR), TScan Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TCRX), Nido Biosciences, Peptone, Rimsys, Collective Medical, Bright Health (NYSE:BHG) and multiple stealth startups. Prior to joining Bessemer in 2015, Andrew worked at F-Prime Capital, Fidelity’s healthcare-focused venture capital fund where he invested in early-stage biotech and digital health companies, as well as Leerink Partners as an advisor to the biopharma industry. He received his M.B.A. with honors from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his B.A. in Biological Basis of Behavior (Neuroscience) and Healthcare Management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jamil M. Beg, Master of Biotechnology, M.B.A.

Director

Jamil is a life science investor and operator focused on advancing breakthrough science into transformational medicines for patients. He joined 5AM Ventures in 2017 and is a Partner based in the Boston office. Mr. Beg serves on the boards of Nido Biosciences, Kinaset Therapeutics, and several stealth startups through 5AM’s 4:59 Initiative. Since joining 5AM, he has been involved with investments in Akouos (NASDAQ: AKUS, acquired by Eli Lilly), Aprea (NASDAQ: APRE), and RallyBio (NASDAQ: RLYB). He partners with founders and entrepreneurs to establish and build biotech startups and often steps into senior executive operating roles, including serving as Founding CEO of Nido Biosciences.  Over his career, Mr. Beg has been involved in over twenty private financings, seven public offerings, and three M&A transactions. He’s operated in six venture-backed startups and contributed to the advancement of five FDA approved products.

Prior to 5AM, Mr. Beg operated at Sage Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SAGE) where he advanced the company through business development, corporate strategy, and commercialization roles. Previously, Mr. Beg was an investment professional at Quaker Partners and involved with investments in Transave Inhalation Therapeutics (acquired by Insmed), NuPathe (NASDAQ: PATH, acquired by Teva), EKR Therapeutics (acquired by Cornerstone Therapeutics), and Cempra (NASDAQ: CEMP). Mr. Beg started his career at Cambridge Pharma Consultancy, a management consulting firm for the biopharma industry.

Mr. Beg earned his B.S.E. in Bioengineering and Master of Biotechnology degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his M.B.A. in Healthcare Management and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where he was a recipient of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Merit Award.