About us
Our story
Draig was built upon the unique scientific expertise of Professors John Atack and Simon Ward in modulating the core Glutamate and GABA pathways, which play a critical role in neuropsychiatric diseases and are ideal targets to deliver transformative new therapies for patients. Both founders are Directors of the Medicines Discovery Institute (MDI) at Cardiff University and bring not only deep academic expertise but also decades of drug development experience from time at large pharmaceutical companies. Their deep knowledge of the interplay and balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission has led to novel insights that underpin Draig’s transformational pipeline.
Draig was co-founded in 2024 by Cardiff University and SV Health Investors with a world-class team of highly experienced industry experts and proven company builders with strong track records of driving innovation and developing transformative therapies, supported with initial seed funding from SV Health Investors and ICG. Draig is backed by other leading healthcare venture firms including Access Biotechnology, Canaan Partners, SR One, Sanofi Ventures and Schroders Capital.
Draig is the Welsh word for ‘dragon’ and it reflects the company’s origins in Wales. Our name and logo were inspired by this heritage, reflecting our scientific roots stemming from Cardiff University.
Leadership Team
Board of Directors
Ruth McKernan, CBE, FMedSci
Draig Therapeutics
Scientific Advisory Board
Investors
Ruth McKernan, CBE, FMedSci
Interim CEO & Founder
Ruth is a Founder and Interim CEO of Draig Therapeutics. She has spent 27 years in the pharmaceutical industry and was head of the Merck Neuroscience Research Centre in Harlow, UK, the Pfizer Discovery Technology Centre in Cambridge, MA, USA, and the Pfizer site in Sandwich, UK. As a neuroscientist, she has over 120 publications in the areas of ion channels and regenerative medicine. She has spanned the academic, business and government worlds with aplomb. Ruth was the CEO of InnovateUK, the UK Government’s innovation Agency, supporting the growth of SMEs. Ruth is now an operating partner with SV Health Investors. She has been involved in founding several companies, including Cumulus Neuroscience and AstronauTx in addition to Draig. Ruth sits on multiple boards, is a trustee of Alzheimer’s Research UK and is also an award-winning science writer.
Ruth received a BSc in Biochemistry and Pharmacology and a PhD in Molecular Neuroscience from Kings College London and was awarded a CBE in 2013 and elected a member of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2014.
Link to Wiki page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_McKernan
Simon Ward
Chief Scientific Officer & Founder
Simon is the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Draig Therapeutics as well as Professor in Translational Drug Discovery and Director of the Medicines Discovery Institute (MDI) at Cardiff University.
Simon is a pioneer and leader in AMPA receptor biology and drug discovery (>70 publications, 50 patent applications) with a wide-ranging experience from over 25 years in senior roles in major pharmaceutical companies, biotech & academia (GlaxoSmithKline, BioCrea, Knoll Pharmaceuticals, Vernalis, Chiroscience, University of Sussex, Cardiff University). He has led multidisciplinary project teams for a wide range of diseases. As Director of the MDI at Cardiff University he built a portfolio of drug discovery and clinical development projects that formed the basis of Draig’s innovative pipeline. He also has considerable experience of commercial deal making.
Simon is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is an internationally recognised expert in medicinal chemistry and drug development leading to many external roles on scientific advisory boards, charity and government funding panels and scientific societies.
Simon received a MA in Natural Sciences and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge.
John Atack
Chief Translational Officer & Founder
John is the Founder and Chief Translational Officer of Draig Therapeutics as well as Professor in Translational Drug Discovery and Director of the Medicines Institute (MDI) at Cardiff University.
John is a leader and recognized expert in GABAA receptor biology and drug discovery. He has over 180 publications and has led projects all the way from target identification/target validation through to clinical development and Phase 2a clinical proof-of-concept studies. He has a particular interest in the use of methods to demonstrate target engagement and/or the functional consequences of target engagement in humans.
John has extensive (>25 years) experience in neuroscience drug discovery at the Merck Sharp & Dohme Neuroscience Research Centre in Harlow, UK and then with Janssen Pharmaceuticals (now Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine). He has worked on a range of CNS disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, cognitive impairment and addiction. As Director of the MDI at Cardiff University he built a portfolio of drug discovery and clinical development projects that formed the basis of Draig’s innovative pipeline.
John received a BSc in Physiology and a PhD in neurochemical pathology from the University of Newcastle.
David Watson
Chief Operating Officer
David is the Chief Operating Officer of Draig Therapeutics. He is a seasoned biotech COO, and brings over 35 years of industry experience, including functional and corporate operations, asset management and executive leadership. David is responsible for building and shaping Draig’s operating environment & philosophy, overseeing a diverse range of activities including finance, HR, business operations, corporate development, IT, EHS, facilities and administration. Prior to being a biotech COO, he has held a variety of leadership roles across early/late-stage clinical development at small and large biotech. David has been instrumental in successfully building and leading local/regional/global teams, managing external relationships, and driving operational and strategic drug development in both Neurology and Oncology therapeutic areas.
David holds a first-class degree in Biological Sciences (biotechnology) from North East Surrey College of Technology.
Inder Kaul
Chief Medical Officer
Inder is the Chief Medical Officer of Draig Therapeutics. He is a physician and experienced global drug development leader with a track record of success in regulatory project achievement, portfolio governance, translational science and commercialization support. His expertise spans multiple therapeutic areas with a focus in neuroscience. Inder has successfully filed and supported multiple INDs, NDAs, sNDAs, PIPs, PSPs, PMAs and 510(k)s. He is a skilled leader of global cross-functional teams that determine product strategy with integration of clinical development, regulatory and commercial recommendations. Inder has extensive regulatory experience with FDA, EMA, DCGI, MOHs (APAC, LA and non-EU countries) and HC. He has held a variety of leadership roles at small, mid and large biotech/pharma companies, including Senior Vice President Clinical Development at Bristol Myers Squibb and Karuna Therapeutics.
Inder holds a MD degree, and a MPH from Harvard University.
Florian Islinger
Chief Commercial Strategy Officer
Florian is the Chief Commercial Strategy Officer of Draig Therapeutics. Florian is a physician and has over 20 years’ experience in senior global, regional and national leadership roles across strategic and commercial functions at top tier pharmaceutical companies (Roche, AbbVie, Novartis) and VC-funded biotech. Before joining Draig, he was Global Franchise Leader for Psychiatry and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Roche. Throughout his career he successfully built and led large cross-functional teams delivering outstanding results for products across various stages of clinical development, during launch and post-launch in new and existing, highly competitive disease areas, including neurology, psychiatry, neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as several indications outside of neuroscience.
Florian holds an MD (summa cum laude) from Würzburg University, Germany.
Joanne Palmer-Phillips
Head of Clinical Operations
Jo is the Head of Clinical Operations of Draig Therapeutics. She is a neuropsychologist with over 20 years’ experience working in clinical development and project management in the pharmaceutical industry. Initially working at Roche and GSK, she has spent the last 15 years working in biotechs. Jo was a founding member of Convergence Pharmaceuticals and Eliem Therapeutics. Convergence was acquired by Biogen in 2015 for $675 million. Before joining Draig she was Chief Development Officer at Eliem Therapeutics leading clinical, project management and preclinical functions. Eliem had a successful IPO on Nasdaq in 2021.
Jo has a PhD in Psychology from Lancaster University.
Maxim Smith
Director of Operations
Maxim is Director of Operations at Draig Therapeutics. He holds broad responsibility at Draig – driving day-to-day business operations and enabling value creation and execution across portfolio strategy and management, as well as corporate and business development. Maxim brings experience from early-stage venture-backed biotech and company builds, joining Draig at its founding while on secondment to the Biotech Investment Team at SV Health Investors. Previously, Maxim was at Quell Therapeutics where he played a key role in the company’s growth and pipeline expansion, joining early in Quell’s journey and progressing through roles of increasing responsibility in portfolio strategy, business development and programme management.
Maxim holds a first-class joint honours degree in Biochemistry and Management from Imperial College London.