Delix Therapeutics Raises $70 Million

Delix Therapeutics closed on a $70 million Series A financing round.  The company said it expects to use the money to advance two lead candidates through Phase 1 clinical trials, further expand its drug discovery platform of novel neuroplasticity-promoting compounds known as psychoplastogens, and expand its team.

“We appreciate the overwhelming support from new and early investors alike, and continue to attract top neuroscience, chemistry, and biotech talent as we pursue a unique pathway toward treating – and potentially healing – neuropsychiatric conditions in a new way, at scale,” said Mark Rus, Delix Therapeutics CEO. “We’ve made tremendous progress towards developing efficacious and easily manufactured compounds that have the potential to deliver safe, fast-acting, FDA-approved treatments to help patients in need.”

Delix Therapeutics was co-founded by Nick Haft & David E. Olson and was built upon the discovery of Dr. Olson, together with his team at the University of California, Davis, that non-hallucinogenic psychoplastogens are capable of producing sustained therapeutic effects. Olson’s research and Delix’s discoveries have been widely published in Cell, Nature, Molecular Psychiatry, Cell Reports, and other leading peer-reviewed scientific publications. Delix has produced nearly 1,000 novel compounds to date, with several potential clinical development candidates identified. Delix said that its improved safety profile, non-hallucinatory efficacy, and simplified manufacturing process of its psychoplastogens make its novel compounds highly scalable and suitable for early use in patients. DLX-1 and DLX-7, the first two development candidates to emerge from Delix, are currently undergoing pre-IND safety and toxicology studies to enable clinical trials to begin in 2022.

Senior Partner of ARTIS Ventures and Delix Board Member Vasudev Bailey said, “Delix is at the forefront of neuroscience with a growing platform of novel compounds, a great team, and a novel approach. Delix has the potential to advance our understanding of neuroplasticity, a core component of psychedelics, and its ability to heal. Through its platform, we see a significant opportunity for Delix to develop next generation therapies, with strong IP protection and the potential to positively impact a range of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions.”

Andrew Levin, Managing Director at RA Capital Management, added, “The healthcare system is in serious need of new and improved neuropsychiatric treatments that are scalable and more accessible than first- or second-generation psychedelics. We have been looking for an optimized scientific approach to achieve this, and believe that Delix’s team, therapeutic strategy, and early lead candidates are on the critical path.”

The round was led by ARTIS Ventures, RA Capital Management, and founding investor OMX Ventures, with participation from a diverse syndicate of life sciences and psychedelic investment funds. Additional investment funds participating in the round include Apeiron, Bail Capital, Casa Verde Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, Negev Capital, Noetic Fund, Ocama Partners, Palo Santo, Presight Capital, PsyMed Ventures, R2, Re.Mind Capital, Saya Bio, Vertical Venture Partners, WPSS, and other leading family investment funds.

“This funding is an important step in transforming our years of scientific research and discoveries into innovative treatments for patients in need,” said Professor David E. Olson, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Delix Therapeutics. “Our preclinical data to-date suggest that our compounds are unlike anything currently in psychiatrists’ arsenals and have the potential to treat a wide range of conditions. Because the Delix platform directly reverses cortical atrophy — the root cause of many brain disorders — we are optimistic that our treasure trove of novel compounds will yield many safe and scalable treatments for improving mental health.”

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