Dr Dan Gooding, Executive Director7 Oct 2025 15:06
What he’s actually done (and when)
Background & roles: Co-founded Nuformix; CEO until June 2020; returned as Executive Director in Aug 2022.
Licensing track record: Nuformix’s own reports state he “led successful licensing deals… with Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.” This language appears in the company’s 2018 Annual Report (when he was CEO) and is repeated in later filings—so the J&J/AZ deals pre-date 2018.
Current programme status (relevance for BD): NXP002 (inhaled tranilast for IPF) secured EU Orphan Drug Designation in Apr/May 2025, and the FDA ODD application was submitted on 11 Aug 2025—exactly the kind of de-risking that helps open doors at big pharma.
Will those contacts still matter?
Senior partnering people do move, but category credibility + warm intros still help. His prior dealmaking plus Cambridge network gives him a credible route to decision-makers, even if some faces have changed. (The company’s own materials still frame him as the BD lead.)
Likelihood he can land a deal for NFX now
Think in terms of conditions, not personalities. Probability rises sharply if NFX can show:
Clear differentiation vs. standard of care in IPF (mechanism + data package).
Regulatory momentum (EU ODD already achieved; FDA ODD pending is a positive signal).
Partner-ready package: clean IP, defined development plan, realistic cost/timeline, and partnering economics that match mid-cap/Big Pharma thresholds.
Practical next steps to maximise a J&J/AZ-type deal
Targeted short list: Focus on respiratory/franchise owners with recent BD in fibrosis (AZ, BMS, GSK, Boehringer, Roche/Genentech).
KOL-backed data brief: One tight deck (≤15 slides) highlighting MoA, ODD status, human-tissue data, and a crisp Phase 1/2 plan with budget.
Option-to-license or regional structures**:** lowers upfront friction; allows pharma to stage risk.
Advisory firepower: Add 1–2 senior ex-pharma respiratory BD advisers to warm channels and sharpen terms.
Bottom line
Fact: Gooding has previously led deals touching J&J and AstraZeneca (pre-2018).
Now: With EU ODD in hand and FDA ODD under review, he’s got a stronger story to take back into those halls—but success will depend more on NXP002’s partner-grade package than on legacy contacts.