Neurona Therapeutics Appoints Dr. Eduardo Dunayevich as Chief Medical Officer

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Neurona Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on advancing regenerative cell therapies for disorders of the nervous system, today announced the appointment of Eduardo Dunayevich, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer.

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Dunayevich, and we are confident that his deep clinical research and development expertise in neurology and psychiatry will be invaluable to Neurona as we initiate our pivotal Phase 3 EPIC study of NRTX-1001 in focal epilepsy,” said Cory R. Nicholas, Ph.D., Neurona’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “Eduardo’s decades of thoughtful R&D leadership, from pre-IND to post-approval stages, will expand our capabilities as we advance our pipeline of pioneering cellular therapeutic candidates for neurological diseases.”

Commenting on his new role, Dr. Dunayevich said, “I’m delighted to be joining Neurona Therapeutics at this exciting juncture. The data that Neurona has presented thus far from its ongoing studies in drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy are strongly indicative of a disease-modifying therapy with the potential to achieve durable seizure control in patients whose disease fails to respond to traditional pharmacological treatments. Currently, many of these patients’ only option is tissue-destructive brain surgery, which carries a high risk of permanent neurocognitive impairment. I am thrilled to work together with the highly talented team at Neurona and to partner with the patient and physician community to bring NRTX-1001 cell therapy to patients in need.”

Dr. Dunayevich has previously orchestrated and successfully executed clinical programs across multiple neurologic, psychiatric and metabolic indications at various stages of development. Prior to joining Neurona, he served as Vice President of Clinical Development for Neurocrine Biosciences, where he led the company’s industry-leading VMAT2 franchise, spearheading programs including its next-gen VMAT2 agents and studies to support INGREZZA. Prior to Neurocrine, he was Head of Clinical Development at Greenwich Biosciences/GW Pharmaceuticals plc, where he oversaw programs in developmental epileptic encephalopathies and multiple sclerosis, and played a key role in the filing and approval of the EU Marketing Authorization Application for Epidyolex as well as the U.S. approval of a supplementary NDA for the treatment of seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex. Earlier in his career, he held roles of increasing responsibility in clinical development at Eli Lilly and Co., Amgen, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Annexon Biosciences and Orexigen Therapeutics.

Dr. Dunayevich holds a medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires and completed a residency in psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He subsequently was board certified in General Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) and was a clinical investigator and faculty at the University of Cincinnati prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry.

About Neurona Therapeutics

Neurona is developing allogeneic, off-the-shelf, regenerative neural cell therapies with the potential to provide long-term targeted repair of the nervous system following a single administration. Neurona’s lead product candidate, NRTX-1001, comprising GABAergic interneurons, is currently being studied for safety and efficacy in two ongoing open label multicenter Phase 1/2 trials: NCT05135091 for drug-resistant unilateral mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), and NCT06422923 for drug-resistant bilateral MTLE, with expansion to neocortical focal epilepsy and other indications planned in the future. The Phase 1/2 MTLE clinical trials are supported by grants from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM; CLIN2-13355 and CLIN2-17135). The FDA granted the Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation to NRTX-1001 in June 2024. Consistent with Neurona’s discussion with the FDA, the Phase 3 EPIC (EPIlepsy Cell Therapy) trial is planned to start in 2H 2025. For more information about Neurona, visit: www.neuronatherapeutics.com.

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