Prilenia Appoints Frederick (Rick) Munschauer, MD, FAAN, as Chief Medical Officer

NAARDEN, Netherlands & WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Prilenia Therapeutics B.V., a biopharmaceutical company driven by an unwavering commitment to scientific excellence and accelerating progress for people affected by Huntington’s disease (HD) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), today announced the appointment of Frederick (Rick) E. Munschauer III, MD, MSc, FAAN, as Chief Medical Officer (CMO).

“Rick is a renowned neurologist and seasoned pharmaceutical executive who has spent his entire career at the front line of neurodegenerative disease – firstly, as an academic clinician and researcher, and then as a leader behind some of the most consequential neurology drug development programs of the past three decades,” said Dr. Michael R. Hayden, Chief Executive Officer of Prilenia Therapeutics. “He has designed and delivered trials from first-in-human through to approval and beyond, and he has done it repeatedly and successfully. As we execute PRECISE-HD and PREVAiLS, our two registrational Phase 3 studies in HD and ALS respectively, that combination of clinical judgement, regulatory experience and operational discipline will bring significant value to Prilenia, and to patients, and I am delighted to welcome Rick to our leadership team.”

Rick has served as CMO at three biopharmaceutical companies, most recently at Emalex Biosciences. There he led Clinical Development, Clinical Operations, Pharmacovigilance, Biostatistics and Medical Affairs, leading development of ecopipam to FDA NDA submission for pediatric Tourette syndrome in June 2026. Previously he was CMO at MedDay Pharmaceuticals and at Marathon Pharmaceuticals, where he led the pre- and post-approval strategy in multiple sclerosis (MS) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, acting as medical lead in all FDA interactions.

Previously, whilst at Biogen, Rick served as Vice President and Chief Medical Advisor and as Vice President, Global Head of Medical Affairs, leading a global organization of more than 250 people and directing the integrated medical launches of important MS therapies, Tecfidera and Plegridy. He also held senior US medical affairs leadership roles at EMD Serono.

His academic career spans more than two decades at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he was the Irvin and Rosemary Smith Professor and Chair of Neurology and Chief of the Jacobs Neurological Institute. There he held the original IND for interferon beta-1a in multiple sclerosis and executed the NIH-funded pivotal study that was the first to demonstrate a slowing of disability progression — work that led to the approval of Avonex. He has served as Principal or Co-Principal Investigator on more than 50 Phase 1–4 clinical trials in multiple sclerosis and cerebrovascular disease and has authored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications.

“Prilenia is currently tackling two devastatingly intractable diseases, in HD and ALS, where the unmet need is stark, and where we now have a possibility of changing the course of illness,” said Rick Munschauer, MD, Prilenia’s Chief Medical Officer. “What drew me here is the clarity of the mission and the pridopidine story, which has already garnered compelling data. My focus will be on execution — running our pivotal HD and ALS studies to the highest standard, generating the evidence regulators need, and staying close to the clinical and patient communities whose participation makes all this possible.”

Rick holds an MD, CM from McGill University, an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a BS in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from Duke University. He completed his residency in neurology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and a fellowship in neurologic and neurosurgical intensive care at The National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, London. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and has served on the National Board of Directors and the National Medical Advisory Board of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

About Prilenia
Prilenia is a private biopharmaceutical company driven by an unwavering commitment to scientific excellence and accelerating progress for people affected by HD, ALS and other neurodegenerative disorders. Our mission is simple but urgent: to develop and provide sustainable access to transformative medicines for people affected by devastating neurodegenerative diseases.

The company is incorporated in the Netherlands and backed by leading life sciences investors.

For more information, please visit www.prilenia.com, and connect with us on LinkedIn or X (Twitter).

For a copy of this release, visit Prilenia’s website at www.prilenia.com.