Rewiring cellular energy: Why Zinc invested in Nascent Therapeutics

What if one of the biggest opportunities in medicine wasn’t about replacing cells, editing genes, or suppressing symptoms, but helping the body’s own cells exchange resources more effectively?

This is the premise behind Nascent Therapeutics, a new biotech from the University of East Anglia (UEA) that is developing a completely new approach to treating neurodegenerative disease, cancer and other age-related conditions like COPD and Osteoporosis.

Zinc is excited to announce our investment in Nascent Therapeutics, alongside co-investor Medicines Discovery Catapult, which has invested through an Innovate UK-funded scheme that enabled Catapults to invest in high-potential companies. UEA is also providing support, helping back a truly exceptional founding team at the frontier of mitochondrial biology and drug discovery.

Nascent is building a platform to regulate mitochondrial transfer, via Tunnelling Nanotube (TNT) formation, the biological process through which cells exchange mitochondria and other cellular components in a controlled manner, the tiny energy-producing structures that power nearly every function in the human body. While the science is still emerging, a growing body of evidence suggests mitochondrial transfer and TNTs may play a fundamental role in age related diseases ranging from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, to acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

Nascent’s vision is to build a new class of disease-modifying therapies capable of tackling some of the world’s largest and most urgent unmet medical needs by boosting and restoring mitochondrial transfer as it declines as we age.

Tackling one of the deepest drivers of disease and ageing

Mitochondria are often described as the “powerhouses” of the cell, but their role extends far beyond energy production. They regulate metabolism, inflammation, oxidative stress, cell survival and are increasingly recognised as central to ageing and disease.

As we age, mitochondrial function declines. Cells become less resilient, accumulate damage and struggle to meet energy demands. This is increasingly recognised as central to ageing and disease pathology of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Nascent’s work centres on a unique phenomenon: cells can naturally transfer healthy mitochondria to one another through microscopic structures known as tunnelling nanotubes. In some contexts, this appears to be a repair mechanism, In some diseases, boosting this process may help stressed cells recover. In cancer, blocking it may prevent tumour cells from growing as fast and surviving treatment.

Nascent is developing small molecules that can either enhance or inhibit this process depending on the disease.

A new approach to treating neurodegeneration

Nascent’s initial focus is Parkinson’s disease, an area of enormous – and growing – unmet need. Today’s Parkinson’s therapies primarily manage symptoms. They do not stop the underlying degeneration of neurons, meaning patients continue to decline over time. As populations age, the burden of neurodegenerative disease is becoming one of the defining healthcare and societal challenges of our era.

For Nascent, the opportunity is not simply about symptom management, but about preserving neuronal function for longer.

“We believe we can have disease-modifying effects,” says co-founder and CEO Stuart Wood. “If we can preserve neurons and slow the progression of disease, we can fundamentally change what ageing looks like.”

The team believes mitochondrial transfer may have a dual effect in neurodegeneration: not only delivering healthy mitochondria into damaged neurons, but also helping remove toxic protein aggregates associated with diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Nascent’s approach has the potential to redefine how neurodegenerative disease is treated, focusing on restoring cellular resilience and survival rather than simply managing symptoms.

How Nascent’s approach is unique

We are seeing growing interest globally in mitochondrial medicine, but most approaches focus on replacing mitochondria directly, modifying mitochondrial DNA, or targeting downstream metabolic pathways or mitochondria already within a cell.

Nascent is taking a different approach. Rather than delivering mitochondria externally through complex cell therapies, the venture is developing small molecules that enhance the body’s own natural mitochondrial-sharing mechanisms.

This is exciting for several reasons:

• Small molecules are typically far more scalable and accessible than other modalities 
• They may be easier to manufacture, distribute and administer 
• They create the possibility of reaching very large patient populations
• Critically for neurodegeneration, they may be designed to penetrate the brain

As Stuart Rushworth CSO  puts it: “We’re not trying to replace the system. We’re trying to preserve and enhance a natural process the body already uses.”

Nascent has also built the first proprietary high-throughput screening platform for mitochondrial transfer drug discovery. Historically, mitochondrial transfer could only be observed through labour-intensive microscopy techniques poorly-suited for modern drug discovery. Nascent’s platform allows the team to systematically screen compounds that modulate the process at scale – a key enabling technology for the entire company.

The team has already identified early small-molecule enhancers and inhibitors of mitochondrial transfer, alongside evidence of improved mitochondrial function in cellular systems. For a company at this stage to have this combination of novel biology, proprietary platform capability and early pharmacological validation is particularly compelling.

An exceptional team at the intersection of science and company building

The company brings together world-class academic expertise in mitochondrial biology with experienced biotech operators who have previously built, scaled and exited therapeutic platforms. The scientific foundations come from:

• Professor Stuart Rushworth, PhD (Co-founder & CSO) – Director of Metabolic Health at UEA and a pioneer in mitochondrial transfer research.
• Professor Kristian Bowles, PhD, MD, MBE (CMO & Scientific Founder) – Dean of Medicine at Norwich Medical School and clinical expert in AML and multiple myeloma.

Alongside them is a highly experienced industrial team who have previously collaborated to build Trimtech Therapeutics and Nanna Therapeutics (acquired by Astellas Therapeutics):

• Stuart Wood, PhD (Co-founder & CEO) – previously CTO of Nanna Therapeutics, where he helped build mitochondrial therapeutics programs through acquisition by Astellas.
• Nicki Thompson, PhD (Board Chair) – biotech executive with deep expertise in drug discovery and venture growth. CEO of Trimtech and former CEO of Amphista, Raised $150M+.
• Alexander Alanine, PhD (Industrial Advisor) – veteran medicinal chemist and neuroscience drug development leader from Roche. SVP at Trimtech, formerly COO at Nanna Therapeutics.
• Lilian Alcaraz, PhD (COO/CBO) – 25+ years experience in drug discovery and early stage business development. Experienced across both large pharma (Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca) and biotech as a business lead. 

The right team at the right time

Interest in mitochondrial biology has accelerated dramatically in recent years, driven by advances in ageing science, neuroscience and metabolism research. At the same time, growing clinical validation in neurodegeneration therapies has helped re-ignite pharma interest in diseases long considered too difficult to tackle.

As Stuart Wood comments: “Five years ago we were still having to explain why mitochondria mattered. Now investors and pharma companies already understand the importance of mitochondrial function. The conversation has shifted to how we improve and maintain their function.”

Early progress – and the journey to impact

Nascent is still at an early stage, but the company has already made significant progress. To date, the team has:

• Developed a proprietary high-throughput mitochondrial transfer assay
• Identified early enhancer and inhibitor compounds
• Generated initial mechanistic insights and target hypotheses
• Secured grant funding and early investment support
• Built a strong scientific and commercial advisory network
• Established foundational IP around the assay platform and screening approach

The company’s immediate focus post-funding is advancing lead compounds in neurodegeneration while continuing to validate the broader platform opportunity.

Longer term, the impact is set to extend far beyond Parkinson’s disease. Because mitochondrial dysfunction underpins so many age-related conditions, successful validation in one indication could open pathways into multiple therapeutic areas, from broader neurodegeneration to oncology, rare disease and broadly to age-related diseases.

Why Zinc invested

The Nascent team exemplifies the kind of ambitious entrepreneurial scientists Zinc exists to back and unlock; founders building transformative businesses capable of improving the health, environment and wellbeing of millions of people globally. 

The venture sits at the convergence of several trends we believe will define the next generation of healthcare innovation:

• The shift toward treating root-cause biology rather than downstream symptoms
• Growing understanding of ageing and cellular resilience
• The emergence of platform therapeutics enabled by novel biological insight
• Increasing convergence between neuroscience, metabolism and immunology

Nascent is not building a single-asset biotech. The company is attempting to open up an entirely new therapeutic category around mitochondrial transfer, one with the potential to impact some of humanity’s largest and fastest-growing diseases.

We are thrilled to have this opportunity to partner with Stuart, Stuart, Kristian, Nicki, Alex and Lilian as they build Nascent, and we look forward to supporting the team on the journey ahead.