A Gene Therapy Company Leading Neural Regeneration and Repair

About Us

NeuExcell is an early stage gene therapy company focusing on neurodegenerative diseases.  We have developed a disruptive neural repair technology that utilizes in vivo astrocyte-to-neuron conversion.

Our vision is to improve the quality of life of millions of patients worldwide who are suffering from neurodegenerative conditions by using the power of gene therapy to restore damaged neural tissue.

In Vivo Regeneration - A Breakthrough in Brain Repair

Despite significant investment in research in the past decades, therapies that can reverse the progression of Alzheimer's disease, effectively treat stroke, or manage the devastating neurodegenerative impacts of rare diseases such as Huntington's disease and ALS remain elusive.  The fundamental problem that has not been adequately addressed is how to recover the millions of lost neurons needed to restore function.

In neurodegenerative or acutely injured brains, neurons die while glial cells, a group of supporting cells surrounding neurons, become reactive and proliferate. Our in vivo transdifferentiation technology takes the advantage of those reactive and proliferative  glial cells and converts them into neurons with high efficiency.

We use AAV gene therapy to deliver specific factors to a targeted site in the brain or spinal cord that can reprogram the reactive glial cells already present in the damaged region to produce functional brain tissue.  The newly generated neurons integrate into existing brain circuits, leading to functional recovery.

This technology has a broad scope of applications to treat neurodegenerative diseases and neural injuries.

Our Highly Experienced Management Team

Peter Tombros joined NeuExcell as Executive Board Chair and Acting CEO in August 2019.  Peter had been with Pfizer Inc. over 25 years where he helped to build the pharmaceutical business in a variety of positions including Vice President, Senior Vice President and General Manager and Executive Vice President of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. 

Peter left Pfizer in 1994 to become CEO of Enzon, Inc.  In his eight years as CEO, he built Enzon's market capitalization from $44 million to more than $3 billion, making it one of the top 20 biotech firms in the United States.  From 2002 to 2005, Peter served as CEO and Board Chair of VivoQuest, a private start-up drug discovery company, which was sold to XTL Biosciences in 2005. 

Peter has also served on numerous public company boards, including The New Jersey Technology Council, Cambrex, NPS Pharmaceuticals, Pharmanet Development Group Inc., Alpharma Inc., Dendrite International Inc., Icoria, and Protalex, Inc. In his role as Board Chair, Peter helped to complete the sale of Alpharma to King Pharmaceuticals in 2008 for $1.7 billion, and the sale of NPS Pharmaceuticals to Shire in 2015 for $5.2 billion.

Peter received his BS and MS at Penn State and MBA from University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.

Peter Tombros

Executive Board Chair, Acting CEO

Dr. Gong Chen is the key founder of NeuExcell and serves as Chief Scientific Officer and Board Director.  Gong has joined Jinan University in Guangzhou, China recently to lead the effort of building a world class brain repair research center. Prior to Jinan University, Gong was a Willaman Chair Professor and the Head of Charles "Skip" Smith Laboratory at Penn State University.  He pioneered the in situ cell conversion technology for brain and spinal cord repair.  This groundbreaking technology can be applied to a wide range of neurological disorders, including stroke, Alzheimer’s , Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and ALS.  Gong has published many high-impact papers in the neuroscience field. Gong was honored with Zenith Fellow Award by Alzheimer’s Foundation for his breakthrough work.  Dr. Chen and his team have filed and obtained a series of patent applications. 

Gong received his BS at Fudan University and PhD at Shanghai Institute of Physiology.

Gong Chen, PhD

Founder, Chief Scientific Officer

Xi Qin joined NeuExcell in April 2019 as its CFO.  He also serves as Board Director of the company.  Prior to joining NeuExcell, as COO and CFO at GENEWIZ (a global leader in genomics services), Xi led the business growth from $9M, 50 employees in US only in 2009 to over $120M, 1200 employees in US/China/Europe/Japan, resulting in a strategic sale for $450M in 2018.  Xi also has 10 years’ corporate finance and operational experience at Northwest Airlines and Eli Lilly. 

Xi has an MBA from Duke, MS in Immunology from Harvard, and BS in Biochemistry from Peking University.

Xi Qin, MBA

Chief Financial Officer

Dr. Ronald Lorijn joined the company as Board Director in August 2019.   He is an adviser or Board Director at several European biotech companies.  Previously, Dr. Lorijn was CEO of AMT NV (currently uniQure NV) that he guided through an IPO on the NYSE Euronext in Amsterdam. The Company became the first in bringing a gene therapy to the market in the Western world.

Prior to AMT, Ronald was VP at Amgen Europe responsible for its Clinical Operations, Business Development & Governmental Affairs.  Before joining Amgen he was CMO and Sr Director of Clinical Operations & Medical Affairs, Europe at Centocor after having been employed by the pharmaceutical division of AKZO (Organon), as its head of worldwide Medical Services and Product Surveillance. 

Dr. Lorijn graduated from the Radboud University Nijmegen, completed a PhD and MBA and was a certified obstetrician/gynecologist before joining the biotech industry.

Ronald HW Lorijn, MD, PhD, MBA

Executive Board Director, VP

Dr. Elizabeth (Beth) White joined NeuExcell in November 2019 as Chief Business & Strategy Officer.  Beth is a proven biopharmaceutical executive with a diverse skill set and broad knowledge base gained by leading high-performing cross-functional teams through a wide range of business strategy, commercial development, portfolio management, and clinical development challenges in start-up, mid-sized, and large companies.  Her background is diverse, with experience at the intersection of science and business across many disease and technology areas, and strong proficiency in the areas of rare disease, biologics and genetic medicines.

Beth had a successful career in the biopharmaceutical industry, with 9 years of experience at a biotech start-up company, followed by 20 years at Wyeth and Pfizer where she led new product planning strategy as Assistant Vice President, Commercial Development, for Pfizer’s Rare Disease and Gene Therapy Business.  Throughout her career, Beth has held a wide range of leadership roles covering the business development, drug development and commercialization continuum across many different disease areas. 

Dr. White received Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Science (MS) degrees with a concentration in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Rochester, and a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Biology from Allegheny College.    

Elizabeth White, PhD

Chief Business & Strategy Officer

Jie Xu is one of the co-founders and serves as Head of Discovery and Board Director of our company.  Before NeuExcell, Jie was a researcher and lab manager at Penn State University.  Prior to Penn State, she worked at a startup biotech company Xenoport Inc., where she was part of the team building the research laboratory as one of the first employees.  Jie’s research experience covers molecular biology, immunology, virology, and neurodevelopment. 

Jie received her BS in biochemistry at Peking University and MS in cell biology at Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

Jie Xu

Head of Discovery