Narcolepsy New Drug Development Bio, Two Executives Sell Shares Worth 5 Billion Won

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ: CNTA), which is developing a novel narcolepsy treatment, saw its Chief Business Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer sequentially liquidate shareholdings worth roughly KRW 5 billion this month.

On March 13, Chief Business Officer Gregory M. Weinhoff sold approximately 70,000 common shares in the open market under a pre-established Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, raising about $1.93 million (around KRW 2.5 billion). He still holds roughly 60,000 shares.

Between March 16 and 17, Chief Human Resources Officer Karen M. Anderson exercised stock options to acquire—and then sell—about 70,000 common shares at an average price of $28 per share, netting approximately $2.1 million (about KRW 2.7 billion) while retaining around 60,000 shares.

Last year, the company reported meaningful efficacy and safety data from the Phase 2a trial of its narcolepsy candidate ORX750 and announced plans to initiate a registrational trial in Q1 2026. In late 2025, it completed a common stock offering of roughly $230 million (approximately KRW 300 billion), securing development funding through 2027–2028.

Effective January 1, 2026, Mario Accardi succeeded Saurabh Saha as CEO, completing the planned executive transition.

Headquartered in the UK, the clinical-stage biotech focuses on early-stage pipeline programs, including OX2R agonists for narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia, as well as its LockBody platform in oncology.

The company currently has no product revenues and, as of Q3 2025, holds about $349 million (around KRW 450 billion) in cash and equivalents, which it expects will fund R&D through 2027.