NEW HAVEN, Conn., June 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: BTAI), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company utilizing artificial intelligence to identify improved therapies in neuroscience and immuno-oncology, today announced the appointment of Reina Benabou, M.D., Ph.D., as Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer (CDO). Dr. Benabou has over 20 years of experience in directing drug development programs and implementing medical affairs strategies for product commercialization in neurology and psychiatry.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Reina to BTI, as her addition will significantly strengthen our leadership structure,” commented Vimal Mehta, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of BTI. “Reina’s expertise in bringing neuroscience products to market will be an important asset to our clinical, commercial and medical affairs teams, positioning us well as we prepare to report topline results from our pivotal SERENITY trials. Furthermore, as we look to pursue multiple follow-on indications with BXCL501 and continue to advance our neuroscience pipeline, her success in drug development and strategic planning will be essential to provide patients with potentially differentiated products that may have important benefits over the current standard of care.”
Prior to joining BTI, Dr. Benabou held numerous leadership roles at leading biopharma companies, including at Pfizer as Head of Global Medical Product Evaluation and in other principal medical affairs roles, at Novartis as VP & World Wide Medical Head for the Neuroscience Franchise, and most recently at Cognivue as Chief Medical Officer. She has built and led a variety of U.S. and global high performing development, medical, regulatory and safety teams responsible for the commercialization of multiple products, such as SUBOXONE ® for the treatment of opioid drug addiction, GEODON ® for the treatment of schizophrenia and manic symptoms of bipolar disorder, LYRICA ® for the treatment of neuropathic pain in diabetes, fibromyalgia and SCI and to control seizures, and GILENYA® for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Dr. Benabou held academic appointments in the Neurology Departments of Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Columbia University in New York. She holds an M.D. from the Universidade de São Paulo and a Ph.D. in Neurological Sciences from the University of Montreal, Canada.
“I am thrilled to be joining BTI. Throughout my career, I have been committed to helping bring innovative neuroscience treatments to market that improve patients’ lives,” added Dr. Benabou. “BTI’s lead neuroscience candidate, BXCL501, has the potential to be an effective treatment for acute agitation across multiple disorders, and I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the global development strategy for current and future indications. In addition, as BTI looks to transition to a significant commercial organization, I look forward to working with the team to educate clinicians, patients, and caregivers on the potential clinical benefits of BXCL501.”
About BXCL501
BXCL501 is a potential first-in-class, proprietary sublingual thin film of dexmedetomidine, a selective alpha-2a receptor agonist for the treatment of acute agitation. BTI believes that BXCL501 directly targets a causal agitation mechanism and the Company has observed anti-agitation effects in clinical studies across multiple neuropsychiatric indications. BXCL501 has also been granted Fast Track Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the acute treatment of mild to moderate agitation in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and dementia.
A Phase 1b safety and efficacy study of BXCL501 yielded positive dose-response data. BXCL501 is being evaluated in the SERENITY program, consisting of two Phase 3 studies for the acute treatment of agitation in patients with schizophrenia (SERENITY I) and bipolar disorder (SERENITY II). BXCL501 is also being evaluated in the Phase 1b/2 TRANQUILITY trial for the treatment of agitation associated with dementia, as well as the Phase 1b/2 RELEASE trial for the treatment of opioid withdrawal symptoms.
About BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc.
BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on drug development that utilizes artificial intelligence to identify improved therapies in neuroscience and immuno-oncology. BTI's drug re-innovation approach leverages existing approved drugs and/or clinically evaluated product candidates together with big data and proprietary machine learning algorithms to identify new therapeutic indices. BTI's two most advanced clinical development programs are BXCL501, an investigational sublingual thin film formulation in development for acute treatment of agitation resulting from neuropsychiatric disorders, and BXCL701, an investigational orally administered systemic innate immunity activator in development for treatment of a rare form of prostate cancer and for treatment of pancreatic cancer in combination with other immuno-oncology agents. For more information, please visit www.bioxceltherapeutics.com.
