Delix Therapeutics Continues Rapid Growth with Appointment of Chief Medical Officer
BOSTON, Aug. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Preclinical neuroscience company Delix Therapeutics (the "Company"), today announced the appointment of Dr. Brigitte Robertson as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Robertson will oversee Delix's clinical development programs, team build-out, and broader medical affairs strategy as the company safely and efficiently advances its psychoplastogen platform of novel disease-modifying therapeutics for serious psychiatric, neurological, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Dr. Robertson joins the company from Yumanity Therapeutics, where she served as Chief Medical Officer since 2019. Her industry career started as a physician scientist in translational medicine at GlaxoSmithKline in the Center for Excellence in Drug Discovery. She then joined Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, where she held senior roles in clinical development and experimental medicine. Dr. Robertson subsequently spent more than eight years at Takeda (formerly Shire), and served as the Therapeutic Area Head of Neuroscience, where she led global clinical development and helped drive the disease area strategy for a large portfolio of early and late-stage assets in neurological, psychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders. In that role she successfully guided multiple programs through global regulatory review and gained approval across several indications. Dr. Robertson has authored numerous articles published in leading peer-reviewed journals, while also taking part in several industry and academic consortia to advance biomarkers and improve trial outcomes in CNS drug development.
Dr. Robertson earned her medical degree from the University of Health Sciences Georgia before completing residency training with a focus on neuropsychiatry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. She completed a fellowship in child psychiatry and a second post-doctoral research fellowship, sponsored by the NIH in neuroimaging and psychopharmacology at the University of California in San Diego (UCSD). In addition, she has held faculty positions at CCP Children's hospital in San Diego, USCD, and Duke University.
"Delix is fortunate to have Dr. Robertson and her unmatched experience developing scientifically rigorous medicines and safely bringing them to the market," said Delix Therapeutics CEO Mark Rus. "Brigitte's extensive leadership experience in clinical development, as well as her unique understanding of neurology, psychiatry and neurodegeneration from every vantage point, will prove invaluable as Delix advances it's safe, fast-acting and scaleable FDA-approved therapeutics platform to help patients in need."
"I am thrilled to join Delix, which is truly pioneering the development of non-hallucinogenic analogs of psychedelic compounds for the benefit of so many suffering from serious mental illness," said Dr. Robertson. "I look forward to contributing my expertise and working alongside an exemplary team that shares my passion for a healing-based approach to clinical development."
Delix is rapidly advancing its orally-bioavailable, take-home and fast-acting compounds capable of producing long-lasting beneficial re-wiring of neural circuitry associated with depression and other psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders — without the risk and safety liabilities inherent to first and second generation predecessors such as ketamine, psilocybin, LSD, 5-MeO-DMT, and MDMA.
The company recently expanded its executive leadership team with the appointment of Dr. Kurt Rasmussen as Chief Scientific Officer, who joined Delix from The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health after previously spending more than two decades at Eli Lilly. Delix co-founder Dr. David E. Olson was named Chief Innovation Officer and head of Delix's Scientific & Strategic Advisory Board. Olson's groundbreaking research on Psychoplastogens has been published in numerous scientific journals, including Cell, Nature and Molecular Psychiatry, in just the past 9 months.
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
Contact:
Rich DiGregorio
Delix@kcsa.com
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SOURCE Delix Therapeutics
