Psychedelic Science Leader Eleusis Announces Four New Board Appointments, Further Strengthening Leadership
Eleusis, a clinical-stage life science company dedicated to unlocking the full therapeutic potential of psychedelics, today announced the appointment of four highly experienced business leaders to its board of directors. The new directors' deep expertise building high-growth, high-impact life science companies complements Eleusis's world-class leadership team. The appointees include:
- David Socks, former CEO of Phathom Pharmaceuticals, joining as Chair of the board
- Robert Hershberg, M.D., Ph.D., former CBO and CSO of Celgene
- John Tucker, CEO of SC Pharmaceuticals
- Esther van den Boom, Managing Partner at van den Boom & Associates
"We are delighted to welcome these four exceptional directors, who bring with them decades of experience building successful therapeutics-focused life sciences companies," said Shlomi Raz, Eleusis's CEO and founder. "Our management team is thrilled to have these individuals help support and guide the company's effort to discover, develop, and deliver transformational psychedelic drug therapies to patients in urgent need of new treatment alternatives."
"This is an opportune moment for Eleusis to push forward its vision of transforming psychedelics into modern medicines," said David Socks, Chair of the board. "On behalf of myself and my fellow directors, we are excited to be involved in a science-driven company that is pursuing a disciplined, thoughtful approach to transforming psychedelics into potential treatment options for patients with depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders, where there is significant unmet need."
ELE-Psilo, the company's lead psychedelic drug candidate, is based on a proprietary, infusible form of psilocybin and is expected to enter clinical trials in early 2022. The company is also in the process of nationally scaling its innovative care delivery platform for psychedelic drug therapy to provide patients with affordable therapeutic alternatives for depression in a safe and caring environment.
Board Appointments
David Socks currently serves on the board of directors of Phathom Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:PHAT), where he was the founding CEO through the company's IPO. He also serves as a Venture Partner at Frazier Healthcare Partners, where he helps lead the firm's company creation efforts, co-founding companies such as Arcutis (NASDAQ:ARQT), Passage Bio (NASDAQ:PASG) and Scout Bio. Mr. Socks has also served as an advisor to Prometheus Bioscience (NASDAQ:RXDX) and PvP Biologics (acquired by Takeda). Previously, he was co-founder, President and COO of Incline Therapeutics (acquired by the Medicines Company) and co-founder and Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy of Cadence Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CADX, acquired by Mallinckrodt))). Mr. Socks holds a B.S. from Georgetown University and an M.B.A from Stanford University.
Robert Hershberg, M.D., Ph.D., is a Venture Partner on the life sciences team at Frazier Healthcare Partners. Dr. Hershberg previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of VentiRx Pharmaceuticals, a Frazier-founded company that he led through its transformational partnership with Celgene. Mr. Hershberg then joined Celgene, where he was promoted to Chief Scientific Officer and subsequently to Chief Business Officer. Before VentiRx, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Dendreon Corporation and as Vice President of Medical Genetics at Corixa, a Frazier portfolio company. Earlier in his career, he was an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Hershberg received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his Ph.D. from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
John H. Tucker is the Chief Executive Officer of scPharmaceuticals. Mr. Tucker previously served as Chief Executive Officer at Algal Scientific and Alcresta, where he led both companies through successful periods of strategic innovation and development. Throughout his career, he has held senior positions at multiple life sciences companies, including Incline Therapeutics, AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Basilea Pharmaceuticals and Indevus Pharmaceuticals. He also worked in a variety of hospital and retail-based sales and marketing roles at Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals, ALZA Corporation, VIVUS and UCB Pharma. Mr. Tucker holds a B.A. from Plymouth State College and an M.B.A. from New Hampshire College.
Esther van den Boom is Managing Partner of van den Boom & Associates and Chief Financial Officer of Tyra Biosciences. Ms. van den Boom has personally worked with over 50 life sciences companies throughout her career, partnering on various responsibilities including CFO, SOX 404 implementations, compliance and IPO assistance. Prior to founding van den Boom & Associates, she worked at Ernst & Young LLP as a Senior Manager in their San Diego office's audit practice. Ms. van den Boom received a B.A. in economics from the University of California, San Diego and an M.S. in accountancy from San Diego State University and is a licensed CPA.
About Eleusis Ltd.
Founded in 2013, Eleusis is a privately held, clinical-stage life science company dedicated to unlocking the full therapeutic potential of psychedelics, guided by science and enabled by drug discovery, clinical development and care delivery design. The company's comprehensive discovery, development and delivery capabilities enable it to target a broad spectrum of unmet needs within psychiatry, and beyond psychiatry. For more information, visit https://www.eleusisltd.com/.
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