Price Bailey supports NRG Therapeutics’ transition to clinical-stage biotech
NRG Therapeutics is a biotechnology company which develops treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. As the business transitioned from discovery-stage research into clinical development, it needed an audit and advisory relationship that could keep pace with its growth and the expectations that come with it.
Client background
NRG Therapeutics focuses on mitochondrial dysfunction, a mechanism implicated in a range of neurodegenerative conditions. Its pipeline targets Parkinson’s disease and ALS, two conditions with significant unmet clinical need.
Entering the clinic is a defining moment for any biotechnology company. It marks the point at which scientific progress starts to translate into regulatory and commercial milestones, and it brings a corresponding increase in scrutiny from investors, stakeholders and regulators. For NRG Therapeutics, that shift meant its finance function and its advisers needed to operate at a different level of rigour.
The challenge
Venture-backed life sciences companies carry a specific set of characteristics that general practice advisers don’t always understand as well, including:
- Complex funding structures
- R&D activity which must be reported accurately
- Grant funding with its own compliance requirements
- Governance expectations that scale quickly as a company expands
NRG Therapeutics needed an audit delivered to a tight timeframe each year, driven by investor reporting requirements rather than by statutory deadlines alone. That meant the annual accounts and audit process had to be planned, resourced and executed with investor timelines as the fixed point, not an afterthought.
Our approach
Price Bailey’s Audit & Assurance team prepares the annual accounts and leads the statutory audit for NRG Therapeutics, working to the timetable set by investor reporting requirements. Delivering an audit of this nature on a tight schedule takes planning well ahead of year end, clear communication with the finance team, and experts that understands the sector well enough not to need every point explained from first principles.
Beyond the audit itself, the relationship has extended into wider support as the business has grown. Our Audit & Assurance team has drawn on specialist expertise from across the firm to help NRG Therapeutics address governance matters and think through opportunities linked to its next stage of growth, adding value beyond the core compliance work.
The outcome
NRG Therapeutics now has an audit relationship built around the realities of being a venture-backed, clinical-stage biotech: responsive, pragmatic, and able to flex to investor deadlines. As the business has grown from discovery-stage research to clinical development, the relationship with Price Bailey has grown alongside it, with support extending into governance and strategic areas beyond the annual audit.
“As a venture-backed biotech that has recently entered the clinic, we value advisers who understand the demands that come with that, and Price Bailey has consistently brought that to the audit. Their team has been responsive and pragmatic, and the relationship has grown alongside the business.”
Grant Hawthorne, Co-founder, NRG Therapeutics
“As a technology team we really enjoy working with growing businesses, and supporting them through their exciting journey. We endeavour to build strong trusted relationships based on our honest, straightforward and industry focused experience.”
Adam Norman, Audit & Assurance Partner
We can help
Contact us today to find out more about how we can help your life sciences or technology business.
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