Eleusis (company)
British pharmaceutical company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eleusis is a pharmaceutical company that is developing serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonists related to serotonergic psychedelics as novel anti-inflammatory drugs to treat inflammatory diseases.[1][4] It is interested in developing the drugs for treatment of conditions like asthma, cardiovascular disease, and Crohn's disease, but is initially focusing on ophthalmology.[4]
| |
| Industry | Pharmaceutical; Psychedelic medicine |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2013[1] |
| Founder | Shlomi Raz; Charles D. Nichols[1] |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of employees | 7[1] (2020[1]) |
| Parent | Beckley Psytech[2][3] |
| Website | https://web.archive.org/web/20240801000000*/http://www.eleusisltd.com/ |
Its drug candidates include ELE-02 (2C-iBu) and its predecessor ELE-01 (possibly (R)-DOI),[5][6] which are both phenethylamines.[1][7] It is developing ELE-02 as a topical eye drop to treat inflammatory eye conditions.[1][7] (R)-DOI is said to be a fallback candidate for ELE-02.[7] The company is also studying lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) microdosing in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.[1][4][8] In addition, they are studying psilocybin infusion (ELE-101; ELE-Psilo; ELE-Psilo+) and ketamine (ELE-Ket+) for treatment of major depressive disorder.[9][10]
Eleusis was co-founded by business executive and former Goldman Sachs managing director Shlomi Raz and by psychedelic pharmacologist Charles D. Nichols in London, United Kingdom in 2013.[1][4] The company was named after the Eleusinian Mysteries.[1] It was the first company to start developing psychedelic drugs as medicines.[4] Raz is the company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and chairman, while Nichols is its lead scientist.[4][1] Emeline Maillet is the company's scientific director and Tim Foster is a collaborator or colleague of Nichols and another scientist at Eleusis.[1] A preclinical and clinical development program to develop novel serotonergic anti-inflammatory agents with reduced or no hallucinogenic effects was launched in 2015 and led to its ELE compounds.[4]
Eleusis was acquired by Beckley Psytech in October 2022.[2][3]