We are experienced in bringing multiple new respiratory treatments to the US and other markets.
Christophe Demaison, PhD
CEO
Christophe Demaison, PhD
CEO
Christophe has served as CEO of ENA Respiratory since the company was formed in 2020 as a spin-off from ENA Therapeutics Pty Ltd, now renamed Axelia Oncology Pty Ltd.
Passionate about building ventures and leading teams committed to translating life sciences innovations into treatments that have a meaningful impact on patients, Christophe has more than 20 years of experience spanning start-up creation, capital raising, company management, pharmaceutical product development, business development and licensing of early-stage innovations.
Christophe has a strong research and technical background. He completed his Ph.D. in immunology at the Pasteur Institute, Paris, France before moving to Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, UK where his research led in 2002 to Britain’s first successful gene therapy clinical trial for the treatment of immune deficiencies in children.
Ruth Tal-Singer, PhD
Medicine Development Leader
Ruth Tal-Singer, PhD
Medicine Development Leader
Ruth joined ENA as a strategy consultant in 2020, and since April 2023 has served as Medicine Development Leader. Previously she was President and CEO of the US COPD Foundation, where she championed a strategic partnership and served as a member of ENA’s Board of Directors until March 2023.
Ruth is an internationally recognised innovative, patient-focused and highly analytical healthcare leader and clinical scientist with extensive pharmaceutical Research and Development experience. She was previously VP, Medical Innovation at GSK, focusing on enhancing the value of GSK’s Respiratory portfolio. She was also a Member of the Respiratory Therapy Area Unit Executive Team at GSK.
She has a proven history of successfully leading international public and private partnerships and non-profit organizations through critical advancements and progress in clinical trials and large observational cohorts. Since retiring from GSK in 2019, she has worked as an independent consultant and volunteers as chief scientific officer of the not-for-profit Global Allergy and Airways Patient Platform (GAAPP).
Ruth received a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Microbiology from the University of Pennsylvania. She has authored 200+ peer-reviewed manuscripts including highly cited scientific publications.
Courtney Crim, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Courtney Crim, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Courtney joined ENA Respiratory in 2023 as its consultant Chief Medical Officer. He is also a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of North Carolina.
Courtney previously served as Group Director in Respiratory Clinical Development at GSK. He has approximately 22 years of experience designing Phase II-IV clinical trials, and has presented submissions for drug approval at US, European and other country regulatory agencies.
Courtney is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine. He has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed published manuscripts.
He is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Thoracic Society and, as to the latter, is the immediate past-chair of the Drug/Device Discovery and Development Committee of the American Thoracic Society.
Courtney received a Doctor of Medicine, MD from the University of Michigan Medical School.
Rohina Batra
Chief Financial Officer
Rohina Batra
Chief Financial Officer
Rohina is an experienced finance professional, with a keen interest in supporting deep tech and life sciences companies in the startup ecosystem.
With over two decades of international expertise in finance and investment management, she began her career in venture capital, followed by leadership roles at GSK, Seven Network, and News Corp. In 2013, she founded CFO Plus – an accounting firm that has consistently been recognized as a provider of choice to a number of tech accelerators and VC funds in Australia.
Rohina has extensive expertise in M&A, capital raising, financial modelling, statutory reporting, taxation, and corporate governance. Passionate about disruptive technologies, she currently serves as CFO of several innovation companies, helping founders through their journey of establishing and scaling their startups.
Rohina is both a Chartered Accountant and a CPA. In addition, she holds an MBA, a BA (Hons) in Economics, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).
Grant Mclachlan, PhD
Director, CMC Program Management
Grant Mclachlan, PhD
Director, CMC Program Management
Grant joined ENA Respiratory in 2020, overseeing the company’s CMC activities.
He brings over 25 years of experience in drug development, including managing CMC activities.
Previously, Grant was CEO at Armaron Bio and led the company through fund raising, and pre-clinical development to the completion of a Phase II clinical trial.
Earlier roles in his career, included a Project Manager at Melbourne Ventures, where he was responsible for a number of the University of Melbourne’s research translation and commercialisation opportunities, and working at IDT Australia, where he focused on API process development and scale-up for clinical trial and commercial supply.
Grant completed his post-doctoral research in the USA.
He has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Monash University, Australia.
Nicole Kruger
Director, Clinical Operations
Nicole Kruger
Director, Clinical Operations
Nic leads clinical operations at ENA Respiratory, ensuring the delivery of high-quality clinical trials. With over 30 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, primarily in clinical research, Nic has a wealth of knowledge and expertise.
Starting as a Clinical Trial Assistant, Nic has performed Clinical Research Associate, project management, clinical development, and clinical operations roles. Nic has worked with major pharmaceutical companies, Contract Research Organisations, and medium to small biotechnology companies to design, implement, and manage their clinical research strategy, programs, and projects. Nic has successfully planned and delivered trials in Australia and globally in the US, Europe, UK, New Zealand, Asia, Africa, and South America.
Nic holds a BSc in Physiology and Zoology from Monash University, Australia.
Francesca Mercuri, PhD
Director of Biology
Francesca Mercuri, PhD
Director of Biology
Francesca joined ENA Respiratory in 2020, overseeing the translational research and clinical operation programs. She has over 20 years of experience in the successful management of pre-clinical research programs and multi-institutional partnerships between academic institutions and industry.
Earlier, during her postdoctoral research, Francesca was awarded a Wellcome Trust Fellowship from the University of East Anglia, UK and a NH&MRC Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Francesca received her Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Melbourne and her B.S, Honours in Immunology from Monash University, Australia.
Narani Smyth
Senior Project Manager
Narani Smyth
Senior Project Manager
Narani joined ENA Respiratory in 2024, in a senior project management role. She has over 20 years of experience in pharmaceuticals, including Quality Assurance and Manufacturing.
Narani has worked in various roles at Pfizer, IDT, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Cell Therapies.
She played a key role in the Novartis technology transfer of Kymriah, a CAR T cell therapy, and was the overall Quality Assurance with responsibility for the commercial delivery of batches for Australia.
Narani has a BSc in Pharmacology from The University of Melbourne, Australia.
Bruce Miller, PhD
Clinical Consultant
Bruce Miller, PhD
Clinical Consultant
Bruce has 30 years’ experience in drug development and led multiple drug development programs in COPD and other inflammatory diseases having held senior scientific roles with GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, and Sterling-Winthrop Pharmaceuticals.
Bruce was a key participant in numerous public-private collaborations that furthered disease understanding in COPD. He was co-chair for the COPD Foundation’s Biomarker Qualification Consortium’s Fibrinogen Working Group, producing work that resulted in the first regulatory qualification with FDA and EMA for a biomarker to support COPD clinical trials.
Bruce is now a consultant to industry and other organisations providing expert input into drug development programs and disease understanding efforts. He has authored/co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications in respiratory research and inflammation/immunology and is a co-inventor on three issued international patents.
Bruce received his Ph.D. from in Toxicology and Pharmacology from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Eddie French, PhD
Drug Product Consultant
Eddie French, PhD
Drug Product Consultant
Eddie is an independent pharmaceutical consultant who specialises in therapeutic product design and development; working with biotechs, SME pharma and medtech companies and charitable organisations. He has been involved with taking over 40 compounds into early clinical studies. Eddie is the formulation team leader on ENA Respiratory’s INNA-15 project.
He has over 35 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry. The majority of this time was spent with Pfizer as a director within Pharmaceutical Sciences, focusing on drug delivery and drug product development. Eddie is a previous chair of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Great Britain and of the inhalation focus group. He has been an honorary professor at the Universities of Bath and Nottingham in the UK and holds an adjunct position at the Monash School of Pharmacy in Australia.
Prior to his industrial career, he was a lecturer in pharmaceutics at the University of Bath.
Eddie has a Ph.D. in drug delivery.
Professor Tim Hammond, PhD
Toxicology Consultant
Professor Tim Hammond, PhD
Toxicology Consultant
Tim has 35 years’ experience in pharmaceutical Drug Discovery and Development and was a former Vice President of Safety Assessment in the UK for AstraZeneca.
He has wide experience in toxicology required to take candidate drugs through each phase of clinical development up to and including marketing authorisation. Since 2012 he has been an independent consultant. Tim has experience in supporting a wide range of therapeutic areas including respiratory. Tim is a past President of the British Toxicology Society, is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, is a member of the American Society of Toxicology and was a founding member of the International Safety Pharmacology Society who awarded him the Distinguished Scientist Award in 2007.
