Delix Therapeutics is recruiting people for its first clinical trials of its drug candidate that harnesses properties of psychedelic compounds to treat neurological problems.
Delix, which is based in Boston, is building on research by University of California Davis associate professor and researcher David Olson, who is co-founder and chief innovation officer of Delix.
“With the continued rise of mental health diagnoses across the globe and a significant lack of innovative treatment options available for those suffering, we are excited about the potential of psychoplastogens — especially scaleable non-hallucinogenic compounds — to treat a variety of conditions as safe and effective take-at-home medicines,” said Mark Rus, CEO of Delix Therapeutics, in a news release.
The trial at the Center for Human Drug Research in the Netherlands will enroll 100 volunteers to assess safety and function of the drug as well as to view brain activity.
In his research, Olson discovered that several novel psychoplastogens have therapeutic potential in preclinical models. They are able to safely rewire parts of the brain.
Delix uses non-hallucinogenic analogs of psychedelic compounds for therapies that can potentially reverse brain atrophy and rewire neural circuits to heal people suffering from psychiatric and neurological diseases. The company is working to commercialize neuroplasticity-promoting therapeutics from those compounds.
Delix licensed UC Davis technology and supported several research projects on campus related to psychoplastogens and neuroplasticity.
Olson is also the director of the Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics at UC Davis, which was launched this year with a goal of improving mental health through chemistry and science. Funded with $5 million from the university, the institute will coordinate with about 300 faculty members in centers, other institutes and departments at the university's campus in Davis and at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
The drug candidate, DLX-001, emerged from Delix’s library of thousands of compounds that have shown promise to promote neuroplasticity in preclinical models, Delix said. The candidate matched or exceeded the efficacy of natural psychedelic compounds, and it did that without hallucinatory responses even at high doses.
In the fall of 2021, Delix raised $70 million to advance its leading drug candidates through clinical trials. The round was led by Artis Ventures of San Francisco, RA Capital Management of Boston and founding investor OMX Ventures of Chicago.
