atai Life Sciences (NASDAQ:ATAI, ETR:9VC) has announced co-founder Srinivas Rao will take on the CEO role following the resignation of Florian Brand.
Rao, who currently serves as the biopharmaceutical firm’s chief scientific officer, will become co-chief executive in June, before fully taking over by the year-end.
Outgoing CEO Brand said he was to turn his focus to new entrepreneurial ventures in other areas of significant unmet medical needs.
“I am confident in passing the torch to my co-founder Srini,” he commented.
“His exceptional leadership and deep expertise in neuropsychiatric drug development have been pivotal to our success, and I am delighted that he will be leading atai into its next phase.”
atai announced the change in first quarter results, where it revealed a narrower net loss of US$27.4 million, against US$34.4 million a year earlier.
Cash and equivalents sat at US$121.3 million as of March, compared to US$154.2 million in December, after investment into clinical studies.
Operating expenses came in at US$11.5 million for the quarter, down on US$19.3 million in the first quarter of 2023.
Phase two trials of BPL-003 in treatment-resistant depression patients and COMP360 in those with PTSD showed improvements over the quarter, atai added.
Data from a phase one trial of VLS-01 on treatment-resistant depression is expected over the latter half of the year, with atai noting it had sufficient funding for operations into 2026.