DLX-001 Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

Delix’s psychedelic-inspired DLX-001 poses no safety or hallucinogenic risks in early testing

Biotech startup Delix Therapeutics has unveiled promising interim phase 1 safety data for its lead neuroplasticity drug candidate DLX-001 at a leading neuroscience conference, marking the first clinical validation of its “psychoplastogen” pipeline. In essence, the company is developing psychedelic-inspired therapies that can prompt neuroplasticity without the hallucinogenic, psychotomimetic, or dissociative effects typical with traditional psychedelic compounds.

According to Delix’s chief medical officer Dr. Aaron Koenig, DLX-001 is safe and well-tolerated. With neuroplasticity emerging as a key factor in rapid-acting antidepressant mechanisms, the company is optimistic about this early human proof-of-concept, which could pave the way for larger efficacy studies and offer an alternative approach in the field where psychedelic medicines have shown limitations, particularly in terms of side effects and potential cardiac liability.

The interim data fro…

Beyond the trip with non-hallucinogenic psychoplastogens in neuropsychiatry

Interest in ketamine and psilocybin as potential therapies for mood disorders has surged since around 2010. A groundbreaking 2000 study at Yale revealed the powerful antidepressant effects of ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic. Unlike traditional antidepressants which can take weeks or months to have an impact, a single dose of ketamine led to significant improvements in depressive symptoms in as little as 72 hours.

Structural neuroplasticity and non-hallucinogenic psychoplastogens

This revelation, which Kurt Rasmussen, chief scientific officer of Delix, describes as a “watershed development” in neuropsychiatry, sparked a new understanding of the brain’s capacity for rapid structural neuroplasticity. Essentially, drugs like ketamine can prompt the brain to form new neural connections quickly, a process known as synaptogenesis. “Neuron damage is a component of many different disease states,” Rasmussen noted. “And the discovery of ketamine’…

Delix Therapeutics launches phase 1 study for novel neuroplasticity-promoting therapeutic

[vrx123/Adobe Stock]

Boston-based Delix Therapeutics has won regulatory approval to commence a study of the non-hallucinogenic psychoplastogen DLX-001. Psychoplastogens are a class of drugs that have the potential to promote neuroplasticity, which refers to the brain’s ability to adapt and form new connections between neurons. That capability could enable improvements in conditions such as depression, anxiety and addiction.

DLX-001 offers potential for a range of conditions, according to Retsina Meyer, head of corporate strategy at Delix. “The aperture for indications for psychoplastogens is broad and is even broader for our non-hallucinogenic compounds of this class,” Meyer said. DLX-001 holds promise for conditions where cortical dendritic/synaptic atrophy plays a role in the pathology. Such atrophy is involved in conditions ranging from major depressive disorder (MDD), schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease…