Industry, academic veterans to support Company’s mission to advance mental health treatments
BOSTON, June 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Delix Therapeutics (the “Company”), a preclinical neuroscience company developing novel disease-modifying therapeutics for serious psychiatric and neurological conditions, today announced the inaugural members of its Scientific and Strategic Advisory Board.
Headquartered in Massachusetts, Delix is creating a new class of neuroplasticity-promoting therapeutics known as psychoplastogens. These orally-bioavailable, take-home compounds are capable of producing both fast-acting and long-lasting beneficial re-wiring of neural circuitry associated with depression and other psychiatric disorders — without the undesirable requirement for in-patient care, safety issues, and abuse potential inherent to the 1st and 2nd generation predecessors such as ketamine, psilocybin, and MDMA.
Grounded in years of academic research featured in top journals such as Nature and Cell, Delix is rapidly building a world-class biotechnology company. The inaugural Scientific and Strategic Advisory Board team will contribute by applying cutting-edge knowledge and scientific rigor to advance the understanding of how non-hallucinogenic analogs of psychedelic compounds can be developed into safe, FDA-approved medicines for the treatment of central nervous system-related conditions.
Delix welcomes the following members to its Advisory Board:
- Michael Cola—CEO, Cerecor & Board of Directors, Sage Therapeutics; Former President and CEO of Aevi Genomic Medicine; Former President of Specialty Pharmaceuticals at Shire plc
- Jacob Hooker, PhD—Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School; Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport MGH Research Scholar and Director of Radiochemistry, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital; Interim Editor-in-Chief, ACS Chemical Neuroscience
- Craig Lindsley, PhD— William K. Warren, Jr. Chair in Medicine, Professor of Pharmacology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Director, Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, Vanderbilt University; Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
- Conor Liston, MD, PhD—Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute,
Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine - Stephen M. Stahl, MD, PhD—Professor of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego; Honorary Visiting Senior Fellow, the University of Cambridge; Editor-in-Chief, CNS Spectrums
- Florence Wagner, PhD—Director of Medicinal Chemistry, Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research and the Center for the Development of Therapeutics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
“We have assembled an outstanding group of leaders with decades of scientific and commercial experience,” said Delix Chief Executive Officer Mark Rus. “We appreciate and look forward to their help in advancing our groundbreaking research and realizing the tremendous potential of our non-hallucinogenic psychoplastogen platform to alleviate mental suffering. They each provide unparalleled expertise in their respective focus areas, and together will play a pivotal role in helping progress our scientific, clinical, regulatory, and commercial strategy.”
“Delix is well on its way to becoming a leading neuroscience company,” said Advisory Board member Michael Cola. “I’m looking forward to helping them on the journey. They are off to a strong start with the right team, the right scientific platform and data, and at the right time in the incredibly exciting novel CNS and psychoplastogen space.”
Added Advisory Board member Conor Liston, MD, PhD., “The study of neuroscience has never been so critical amid today’s mental health crisis, but I am hopeful that new technologies – including the innovative work of Delix – can help reshape our understanding and treatment of those suffering from depression and other psychiatric disorders.”
The work of Delix co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer David E. Olson, PhD was recently published in the scientific journals Nature and Cell and describes two examples of non-hallucinatory compounds capable of achieving rapid and sustained therapeutic efficacy in preclinical animal models. Olson’s work was recently extended to additional animal models by his collaborators in a manuscript published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. He was recognized by Psychedelic Invest as one of the 100 most influential people in psychedelics.
About Delix Therapeutics
Delix Therapeutics is a neuroscience company focused on harnessing the power of psychoplastogens—novel neuroplasticity-promoting therapeutics—to better treat mental health disorders at scale. The company’s compounds are easily manufactured small molecules capable of rapidly inducing structural and functional neural changes in targeted areas of the brain. Many of these molecules are inspired by psychedelic compounds and preserve their efficacy-promoting mechanisms while avoiding their hallucinogenic properties and other safety liabilities. Delix is rapidly advancing these compounds through preclinical and clinical development to bring patients FDA-approved, take-home medicines that will serve several unmet needs. Headquartered in Massachusetts, Delix is building a world-class biotechnology company by combining an experienced team with innovative treatment strategies and scientific rigor to address the significant and growing mental health challenges impacting society. www.delixtherapeutics.com
Media contact: Rich DiGregorio, delix@kcsa.com
SOURCE Delix Therapeutics
