Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

iStock, leolintang The series C raise, co-led by Johnson & Johnson’s venture capital arm, will help Delix Therapeutics push its novel psychedelic asset into mid-stage development for major depressive disorder. Delix Therapeutics has closed an oversubscribed series C round, bringing in $100 million to advance its investigational psychedelic medicine into mid-stage development for depression. The oral asset, called zalsupindole, is an analog of the natural psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT but engineered to avoid hallucination or psychosis-like side effects so that the therapy can be taken outside the clinical setting, according to Delix. The oral treatment is slated to start at-home Phase 2 testing for major depressive disorder in the first half of 2027, the biotech said in a news release on Monday . Johnson & Johnson, through its venture capital arm, led Delix’s fundraising round along with SV Health Investors’ Dementia Discovery Fund. With its ketamine-derived nasal spray Spravato , approved in 2019 for depression, J&J is a leader in the space. Though the pharma does not consider its drug to be a classic psychedelic , analysts are often looking to Spravato sales to highlight the opportunity for up-and-coming psychedelics. Psychedelics J&J sees Spravato sales surge as psychedelic competitors loom Psychedelics, chiefly Compass Pathways’ COMP360, are unlikely to make an immediate dent in the sales of Johnson & Johnson’s depression drug Spravato, H.C. Wainwright’s Patrick Trucchio told BioSpace . July 16, 2026 · 2 min read · Tristan Manalac Read more Founded in 2019, Delix raised $70 million in a series A round in September 2021—money that the biotech at the time earmarked for pushing two lead neuroplasticity-boosting assets through Phase 1 development. Zalsupidole is meant to improve the brain’s capacity to rewire its networks, a characteristic called neuroplasticity—changes in which have been linked to depression—but to do so without causing hallucinatory, dissociative, sedative or other side effects common to psychedelics. Even J&J’s Spravato can come with these side effects, though they are rare. Preclinical data published in October 2025 showed that zalsupindole spurred functional plasticity on par or better than ketamine and other psychedelics. Phase 1b data released the same month showed that in adults with recurrent major depressive disorder, one week of zalsupindole eased depression severity at day eight. Aside from supporting the clinical development of zalsupindole, Delix will use the series C proceeds to advance the biotech’s broader neuroplastogen pipeline . This includes DLX-007, an ibogaine derivative for substance use disorders; DLX-159, another 5-MeO-DMT-based drug, for affective disorders and neurodegeneration; and DLX-726, which is based on an LSD scaffold and being developed for treatment-resistant depression. All three assets are in preclinical testing. Psychedelics, and ibogaine in particular , were thrown into the spotlight earlier this year when President Donald Trump signed an executive order to accelerate the development of psychedelic medicines and specifically highlighted the hallucinogen. Psychedelics How does ibogaine work? Understanding matrix logic to make a safer drug Ibogaine’s unconventional “matrix pharmacology” may underlie both its therapeutic promise and unpredictable cardiac risks. Unraveling this mechanism could help drug developers hoping to bring ibogaine analogs to market. June 15, 2026 · 3 min read · Gabrielle Masson Read more Following the president’s directive in April, the FDA granted Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers to psychedelic assets from Compass Therapeutics, Transcend Therapeutics and Usona Institute. Usona and Compass filed approval applications for their investigational therapies earlier this month, with decisions potentially arriving later this year. Aside from the policy tailwinds, a series of high-profile, big-ticket acquisitions have also given the psychedelics space a boost, including Eli Lilly’s $3.8 billion takeover of AtaiBeckley in July, AbbVie’s $1.2 billion play for Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals in August 2025 and Otsuka Pharma’s buyout of Mindset Pharma in August 2023. Psychedelics Psychedelics on the cusp of market breakthrough as clinical, policy support grow While there are several FDA-approved psychiatric medicines on the market, many patients still struggle to achieve lasting symptom relief. Psychedelics could help fill this gap. August 10, 2026 · 8 min read · Tristan Manalac Read more

iStock, leolintang The series C raise, co-led by Johnson & Johnson’s venture capital arm, will help Delix Therapeutics push its novel psychedelic asset into mid-stage development for major depressive disorder. Delix Therapeutics has closed an oversubscribed series C round, bringing in $100 million to advance its investigational psychedelic medicine into mid-stage development for depression. The oral asset, called zalsupindole, is an analog of the natural psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT but engineered to avoid hallucination or psychosis-like side effects so that the therapy can be taken outside the clinical setting, according to Delix. The oral treatment is slated to start at-home Phase 2 testing for major depressive disorder in the first half of 2027, the biotech said in a news release on Monday . Johnson & Johnson, through its venture capital arm, led Delix’s fundraising round along with SV Health Investors’ Dementia Discovery Fund. With its ketamine-derived nasal spray Spravato , approved in 2019 for depression, J&J is a leader in the space. Though the pharma does not consider its drug to be a classic psychedelic , analysts are often looking to Spravato sales to highlight the opportunity for up-and-coming psychedelics. Psychedelics J&J sees Spravato sales surge as psychedelic competitors loom Psychedelics, chiefly Compass Pathways’ COMP360, are unlikely to make an immediate dent in the sales of Johnson & Johnson’s depression drug Spravato, H.C. Wainwright’s Patrick Trucchio told BioSpace . July 16, 2026 · 2 min read · Tristan Manalac Read more Founded in 2019, Delix raised $70 million in a series A round in September 2021—money that the biotech at the time earmarked for pushing two lead neuroplasticity-boosting assets through Phase 1 development. Zalsupidole is meant to improve the brain’s capacity to rewire its networks, a characteristic called neuroplasticity—changes in which have been linked to depression—but to do so without causing hallucinatory, dissociative, sedative or other side effects common to psychedelics. Even J&J’s Spravato can come with these side effects, though they are rare. Preclinical data published in October 2025 showed that zalsupindole spurred functional plasticity on par or better than ketamine and other psychedelics. Phase 1b data released the same month showed that in adults with recurrent major depressive disorder, one week of zalsupindole eased depression severity at day eight. Aside from supporting the clinical development of zalsupindole, Delix will use the series C proceeds to advance the biotech’s broader neuroplastogen pipeline . This includes DLX-007, an ibogaine derivative for substance use disorders; DLX-159, another 5-MeO-DMT-based drug, for affective disorders and neurodegeneration; and DLX-726, which is based on an LSD scaffold and being developed for treatment-resistant depression. All three assets are in preclinical testing. Psychedelics, and ibogaine in particular , were thrown into the spotlight earlier this year when President Donald Trump signed an executive order to accelerate the development of psychedelic medicines and specifically highlighted the hallucinogen. Psychedelics How does ibogaine work? Understanding matrix logic to make a safer drug Ibogaine’s unconventional “matrix pharmacology” may underlie both its therapeutic promise and unpredictable cardiac risks. Unraveling this mechanism could help drug developers hoping to bring ibogaine analogs to market. June 15, 2026 · 3 min read · Gabrielle Masson Read more Following the president’s directive in April, the FDA granted Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers to psychedelic assets from Compass Therapeutics, Transcend Therapeutics and Usona Institute. Usona and Compass filed approval applications for their investigational therapies earlier this month, with decisions potentially arriving later this year. Aside from the policy tailwinds, a series of high-profile, big-ticket acquisitions have also given the psychedelics space a boost, including Eli Lilly’s $3.8 billion takeover of AtaiBeckley in July, AbbVie’s $1.2 billion play for Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals in August 2025 and Otsuka Pharma’s buyout of Mindset Pharma in August 2023. Psychedelics Psychedelics on the cusp of market breakthrough as clinical, policy support grow While there are several FDA-approved psychiatric medicines on the market, many patients still struggle to achieve lasting symptom relief. Psychedelics could help fill this gap. August 10, 2026 · 8 min read · Tristan Manalac Read more

The FDA on Friday approved AbbVie's Juvmo (tavapadon) to treat adults with Parkinson's disease, according to a listing on the agency's approvals database. The pharma gained the D1/D5 partial agonist through its $8.7-billion takeout of Cerevel Therapeutics, announced in late 2023. However, the centrepiece of that deal, experimental schizophrenia treatment emraclidine, failed in mid-stage testing shortly after the acquisition closed (see – Spotlight On: Three things to watch at AbbVie). Despite the setback, AbbVie has continued to invest in the neurology space, including psychedelics through its purchase last year of Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals (see – Spotlight On: AbbVie adds to string of big neuro bets). The approval was backed by a trio of Phase III successes for Juvmo. AbbVie reported in late 2024 that the candidate met its primary endpoint of significantly improving motor function in the TEMPO-2 study, which recruited 304 adults with a confirmed Parkinson's diagnosis for less than three years. At week 26, patients treated with a flexible, oral tavapadon dose of 5-15 mg once daily experienced a reduction of 10.3 points from baseline in the Movement Disorder Society - Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) Parts II and III combined score, compared with a 1.2-point drop for placebo. Juvmo also notched wins in TEMPO-1, another monotherapy trial, as well as TEMPO-3, which evaluated the candidate as an adjunctive therapy in levodopa-treated adults. According to the drugmaker's RxAbbVie site, Juvmo's label includes warnings for hypotension, compulsive behaviors, hallucinations and psychotic-like behaviour, as well as dyskinesia. The content above comes from the network. if any infringement, please contact us to modify.