Euthymics Bioscience

About Euthymics Bioscience

Euthymics Bioscience, Inc. was a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, focused on developing treatments for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Founded in 2009 by Anthony A. McKinney and Franklin P. Bymaster, the company aimed to address significant unmet needs in the psychiatric and neurological markets. McKinney, who served as President and CEO, brought extensive experience from leadership roles at companies like Orexigen Therapeutics and Genzyme. Bymaster, the Chief Scientific Officer, had a distinguished 33-year career at Eli Lilly, contributing to the development of major CNS drugs such as Prozac and Cymbalta.

The company's primary business was the clinical development of novel drug candidates. A significant milestone occurred in July 2010 when Euthymics secured $24 million in a Series A financing round led by Novartis Venture Funds and Venture Investors. These funds facilitated the acquisition of DOV Pharmaceutical, Inc., which gave Euthymics control over a pipeline of monoamine reuptake inhibitors. This acquisition was pivotal, providing Euthymics with its lead product candidate, amitifadine (formerly EB-1010 and DOV 21,947), a novel triple reuptake inhibitor designed to modulate serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. The company's business model was centered on advancing these assets through clinical trials to eventually secure regulatory approval and commercialize them, or to partner with or be acquired by larger pharmaceutical companies.

Euthymics' lead product, amitifadine, was developed for patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) who did not respond adequately to first-line treatments like SSRIs. The drug's mechanism as an unbalanced triple reuptake inhibitor was intended to offer improved efficacy and a better side-effect profile, particularly concerning weight gain and sexual dysfunction, which are common reasons for non-adherence to standard antidepressants. The company advanced amitifadine into a Phase 2b/3a clinical trial called TRIADE. Euthymics also had a second compound, EB-1020 (later centanafadine), a norepinephrine-preferring triple reuptake inhibitor for adult ADHD. In 2011, Euthymics spun out its ADHD program into a new entity, Neurovance, Inc., to allow for focused development. Neurovance was later acquired by Otsuka Pharmaceutical in 2017 for $100 million upfront, with potential for an additional $150 million in milestones. Euthymics itself was eventually acquired by Ethismos Research, a company also founded by Anthony McKinney, in November 2017, which took over the intellectual property assets, including amitifadine, to continue its development for applications like smoking cessation.