Redefining the treatment of severe neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders

At Lusaris, we are advancing next-generation serotonergic neuroplastogen medicines for patients suffering from serious neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders, which are among the world’s most prevalent and underserved health problems.

Our Approach

We aim to develop best-in-class, small-molecule neuroplastogen therapeutics for neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders that can reach more patients in need by decreasing the treatment burden on patients and healthcare providers.

Our lead pipeline program, LSR-1019, is a novel formulation of 5-MeO-DMT, a potent, fast-acting, and rapidly clearing serotonergic psychedelic for patients with treatment-resistant depression and other debilitating neuropsychiatric disorders. Orally administered 5-MeO-DMT is pharmacologically inactive due to rapid metabolism by enzymes in the gut and liver. LSR-1019 is a proprietary sublingual tablet formulation of 5-MeO-DMT that dissolves under the tongue within seconds and is absorbed without the need for water. This approach is scalable, eliminates the need for burdensome drug delivery systems, simplifies administration, and offers the potential for more consistent exposure and more predictable therapeutic benefit in patients. We hold an exclusive worldwide license for Catalent’s Zydis® fast-dissolving tablet technology for our 5-MeO-DMT program.

Treatment-resistant depression occurs when patients with major depressive disorder do not respond adequately to two lines of therapy. There is a tremendous need for new therapies for patients not adequately controlled with currently available treatments. Serotonergic neuroplastogens have been shown to induce favorable structural and functional neural plasticity, resulting in rapid and dramatic improvement in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Existing clinical data suggest that 5-MeO-DMT has the potential to offer best-in-class efficacy in people with treatment-resistant depression.

We are also advancing additional programs focused on migraine and cluster headache and additional neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders.

About Us

Lusaris was founded by a team of highly experienced drug developers and company builders with extensive neuroscience experience. Our drug development expertise, pipeline of potentially best-in-class neuropsychiatric and neurological therapeutics, and backing from a world-class investor syndicate uniquely position Lusaris to succeed in bringing life-changing medicines—and renewed hope—to millions of patients and their families.

Our Team

Andrew Levin, MD, PhD

Andrew Levin, MD, PhD

Interim Chief Executive Officer

Neil Buckley, MS

Neil Buckley, MS

Chief Operating Officer

Ed Monaghan, PhD

Ed Monaghan, PhD

Chief Development Officer

Ramin Farzaneh-Far, MD

Ramin Farzaneh-Far, MD

Acting Chief Medical Officer

Kat Riesen, CPA

Kat Riesen, CPA

Chief Financial Officer

Ned Whittemore, PhD

Ned Whittemore, PhD

Vice President, Regulatory Affairs

Matt Harding, PhD

Matt Harding, PhD

Vice President, Discovery

Stephen Schneider, PhD

Stephen Schneider, PhD

Vice President, CMC

David Mister, MS

David Mister, MS

Senior Director, Clinical Operations

Board of Directors

Daniel Grau, MPhil

Daniel Grau, MPhil

Chairman

Andrew Levin, MD, PhD

Andrew Levin, MD, PhD

Interim Chief Executive Officer

Ed Monaghan, PhD

Ed Monaghan, PhD

Chief Development Officer

Investors

Pipeline

Programs
Indication
Discovery
Preclinical
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3

LSR-1019

(Sublingual
5-MeO-DMT)

Treatment-Resistant Depression

Undisclosed neuropsychiatric indication #2 & indication #3

LSR-2000

Prophylactic treatments for migraine and cluster headache

LSR-3000

Next generation neuroplastogens for additional neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders

Our Programs

LSR-1019, our lead program, is a proprietary sublingual formulation of 5-MeO-DMT. LSR-1019 is a best-in-class psychedelic therapeutic in development for treatment-resistant depression and additional neuropsychiatric indications. We hold an exclusive worldwide license for Catalent’s Zydis® fast-dissolving tablet technology for our 5-MeO-DMT program.

LSR-2000 is a late-stage discovery program evaluating serotonergic neuroplastogens for the prevention of migraines and cluster headaches. Emerging data has shown that traditional psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin may offer benefit to patients for migraine and cluster headache prophylaxis. We believe our program has the potential for a new generation of prophylactic headache therapeutics that will leverage serotonergic biology in a novel, optimized product profile.

LSR-3000 is a discovery program focused on developing therapies suitable for chronic dosing by maintaining broad serotonergic receptor activation without hallucinogenic effects or by preserving activity at the 5HT2a and other serotonin receptor subtypes while eliminating activity at the 5HT2b receptor.

News

Join the Lusaris Team

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Position
Location
Director, Pharmaceutical Development
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill | Hybrid