NurrOn Pharmaceuticals

What NurrOn Pharmaceuticals does

NurrOn Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2020 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, that develops disease-modifying therapies for Parkinson's disease and other Nurr1-related neurodegenerative disorders. The company's core technology is a proprietary Nurr1 Activator Platform targeting Nurr1, the nuclear receptor identified by co-founder Kwang Soo Kim as the master regulator of dopaminergic neuron development and maintenance. Its lead compound ATH-399A (also referenced as HL192) is designed with a dual mechanism: increasing transcriptional activation of dopaminergic-specific genes while enhancing transrepression of neurotoxic proinflammatory gene expression in microglia. The compound demonstrated significant improvement in behavioral deficits in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rat and MPTP-lesioned mouse models of Parkinson's disease without detectable dyskinesia-like behavior.

NurrOn's pipeline extends beyond ATH-399A to additional investigational lead compounds for IND-enabling studies across Nurr1-related indications, with planned exploration of both monotherapy and combination approaches alongside existing Parkinson's drugs. The asset is being advanced through a March 2023 co-development agreement with South Korean biopharmaceutical firms HanAll Biopharma and Daewoong Pharmaceutical; together the partners initiated the first-in-human Phase 1 study in October 2023 and successfully completed it in November 2024. Additional non-dilutive funding was provided by the Michael J. Fox Foundation under its Translational Pipeline Program (2022 award; $1,700,000 disbursed in November 2024).

As a pre-revenue clinical-stage company with 11-50 employees, NurrOn has no commercialized products and therefore no product sales. The intended go-to-market path is licensing or partnership-based commercialization rather than building an internal commercial sales infrastructure. The company relies on scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals (Nature Communications, Nature Chemical Biology, Scientific Reports, Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, PNAS) and press coverage following clinical milestones for visibility. Leadership comprises founder and Harvard professor Kwang Soo Kim, Ph.D.; CEO Deog Joong Kim, Ph.D. (formerly VP R&D at Rexahn Pharmaceuticals); Co-Founder George A. Lopez, MD (founder of ICU Medical); Acting CMO Thomas C. Wessel, MD, Ph.D. (prior CMO at Acorda, Flex Pharma, Asceneuron); and Chairman Tae Heum Jeong, D.Mgt. (founder of Adelphi Ventures). No institutional venture equity investors or parent company are disclosed.

Name

NurrOn Pharmaceuticals

Legal name

NurrOn Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Website

https://nurronpharma.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NurrOn Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing disease-modifying Parkinson's disease therapies through its proprietary Nurr1 activator platform; lead compound ATH-399A successfully completed Phase 1 in November 2024 via a HanAll Biopharma and Daewoong Pharmaceutical co-development partnership.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Parkinson's Disease Therapeutics

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834)

akta.pro primary industry

Neurology & CNS Specialty Pharmaceuticals (HLAIACAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Neurology & Psychiatry (CNS) Pharmaceuticals (HLAIAAAF), Drug Discovery (Target ID/Validation & Hit Discovery) (HLAIALAA), Lead Optimization & Preclinical Candidate Selection (HLAIALAB)

Keywords

• Parkinson's therapeutics
• Neurodegenerative disease treatments
• Nurr1 activator drugs
• Dopaminergic neuron therapy
• CNS drug development

Headquarters

HQ city

Woburn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

NurrOn Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing Nurr1-targeting small-molecule therapeutics for Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Its lead asset is ATH-399A (HL192), a Nurr1 activator designed as a disease-modifying therapy to slow or prevent disease progression rather than merely treat symptoms, with successful completion of a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical study in November 2024.

Product overview

NurrOn Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of disease-modifying therapies for Parkinson's disease and other Nurr1-related neurodegenerative disorders. The company's core product is ATH-399A (HL192), a lead Nurr1 activator compound that successfully completed first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trials in 2024. Built on a Nurr1 Activator Platform, the company is pursuing both monotherapy and combination approaches, with the goal of developing therapies that can work synergistically with existing PD drugs. The pipeline includes novel investigational lead compounds for IND-enabling studies targeting various neurodegenerative diseases.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ATH-399A (also referred to as HL192) A small-molecule Nurr1 activator and the company's lead clinical-stage drug candidate, designed as a disease-modifying therapy to slow or prevent Parkinson's disease progression by targeting Nurr1, the master regulator for dopaminergic neuron development and maintenance, with potential for both monotherapy and combination use with existing Parkinson's drugs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Significant improvement in behavioral deficits in both 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned rat and MPTP-lesioned mouse models of PD without any detectable signs of dyskinesia-like behavior
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• HanAll BiopharmacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 March 2023Co-development agreement to develop ATH-399A for Parkinson's disease. HanAll Biopharma is a South Korean biopharmaceutical company. The collaboration involves combining resources to develop NurrOn's lead compound ATH-399A, which aims to slow disease progression through targeting Nurr1 for neurodegenerative disorders.
• Daewoong PharmaceuticalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 March 2023Co-development agreement to develop ATH-399A for Parkinson's disease. Daewoong Pharmaceutical is a South Korean pharmaceutical company. The collaboration combines resources to develop NurrOn's lead compound ATH-399A targeting Nurr1 for Parkinson's disease and neurodegenerative disorders.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Praxis Precision Medicines: Clinical-stage CNS-focused biotech developing therapies for neurological disorders, with comparable development stage and CNS therapeutic focus.
• Clene Inc. Clinical-stage biotech focused on disease-modifying therapies for Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases; Tae Heum Jeong, NurrOn's Chairman, also serves as CFO of Clene, indicating direct operational and strategic overlap.
• Annovis Bio: Clinical-stage biotech developing disease-modifying therapies for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, addressing the same unmet need and competing for the same disease-modifying PD positioning as NurrOn.
• Cerevel Therapeutics: Clinical-stage CNS-focused biotech (now Pfizer-owned) developing therapies for Parkinson's and other neurological disorders, with overlapping CNS drug development expertise and target patient population.
• Asceneuron: Clinical-stage CNS biotech developing therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases; NurrOn's Acting CMO previously served as CMO at Asceneuron, and both target underserved CNS indications.
• Sage Therapeutics: Clinical-stage CNS biotech developing novel therapeutics for neurological disorders, comparable in size, stage, and strategic positioning to NurrOn's CNS specialty focus.

Emerging players

• Bial - Portela & Cª: Pharmaceutical company with marketed Parkinson's disease treatment (Opicapone/Dopicor) and active CNS pipeline, competing in the same PD therapeutic market with deeper resources.
• Voyager Therapeutics: Clinical-stage gene therapy company developing disease-modifying treatments for Parkinson's disease and other CNS disorders, addressing the same disease-modifying PD opportunity with a different modality.

Broad incumbents

• Acorda Therapeutics: Specialty CNS pharmaceutical company with Parkinson's disease franchise (Inbrija), comparable in therapeutic focus; NurrOn's Acting CMO previously served as CMO at Acorda.
• Denali Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson's, with broader CNS portfolio and substantially greater capital resources than NurrOn.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NurrOn Pharmaceuticals