Delix Therapeutics was the first well-funded \u2018non-hallucinogenic psychedelic\u2019 drug developer to emerge, in many ways defining the category. It raised over $100M in 2021 via financings led by the likes of ARTIS Ventures and RA Capital.<\/p>\n
The startup, and its backers, had hoped to harness the apparent neuroplasticity-promoting properties of psychedelics without the subjective \u2018trip\u2019, an attractive prospect that could bypass the logistical hurdles of traditional psychedelic candidates, which call for in-clinic administration and monitoring.<\/p>\n
The class went on to become a popular target for more traditional biotech and healthcare funders, with a whole pipeline of candidates springing up over the past four years. (See our Non-Hallucinogenic Psychedelic Pipeline Tracker<\/a> for more.)<\/p>\n But recent regulatory tailwinds and positive late-stage readouts concerning more conventional psychedelics, with the trip intact, appeared to have dialled down interest in the non-hallucinogenic variety, and Delix itself has been less splashy in the last year or two.<\/p>\n But the company kept at it, announcing late last year that its Phase Ib study of its lead candidate, zalsupindole (DLX-001, which it says is inspired by 5-MeO-DMT) in major depressive disorder (MDD), was positive, having shown \u201cclear effects on potential markers of plasticity as well as rapid, robust and durable antidepressant effects\u201d. (See Delix Posts Early Efficacy Signal\u2026<\/a> for more.)<\/p>\n Delix also shared that FDA had cleared its Phase II study design, featuring at-home, once-daily or twice-weekly dosing of the candidate.<\/p>\n The small Phase Ib study, with 18 MDD patients and no control arm, was presumably a tough sell to investors, however. Around the same time as that topline readout, the company showed signs of financial strain, with a reduction in force and the departure of its Chief Medical Officer, Aaron Koenig.<\/p>\n This Series C round, then, will be a welcome cash injection for Delix, which will presumably hope to push on with its clinical development of DLX-001.<\/p>\n It also signals the entrance of yet another large pharmaceutical company into the world of psychedelics-related drug development.<\/p>\n Johnson & Johnson, of course, has more experience than any other pharmaceutical company in developing and marketing a psychedelic-like product, with Spravato (its esketamine nasal spray) often pointed to as the closest analog to psychedelics\u2019 likely delivery model. (See our interview with Husseini Manji<\/a>, who led the development of Spravato at the company, for more.)<\/p>\n It\u2019s notable, then, that it has opted to dabble in the non-hallucinogenic side of the field, as opposed to taking an interest in a pipeline that includes drugs that would be administered in-clinic, like Spravato.<\/p>\n