Delix Therapeutics

Biotechnology · Mental Health · Pharmaceuticals

Funding

Delix Therapeutics closes $100M Series C for Phase II depression trial

Johnson & Johnson's venture arm co-led the round, a bet that drugs engineered from psychedelics without the trip can treat mood disorders at home.

• Delix Therapeutics closed an oversubscribed $100 million Series C, co-led by Johnson & Johnson's JJDC venture arm and SV Health Investors' Dementia Discovery Fund, to push its lead drug zalsupindole into Phase II.
• Delix designs neuroplastogens, compounds reverse-engineered from psychedelics like 5-MeO-DMT, meant to repair brain synapses without hallucinations so patients could take them as an at-home pill.
• In an uncontrolled Phase Ib trial of 18 patients with recurrent major depression, zalsupindole cut MADRS depression scores by about 50% after one week, with effects holding through day 36.
• Delix plans a placebo-controlled Phase IIb trial enrolling 240 patients on daily or twice-weekly dosing starting in the first half of 2027, with data expected in the first half of 2028.
• Delix had previously raised $115 million across earlier rounds without disclosing a valuation, and this new round ranks in the top 10% of U.S. health Series C deals by size.
• The raise follows a rockier stretch for Delix, which cut staff and lost its chief medical officer last year before rebounding on strong early clinical data.
• A major pharmaceutical company backing a hallucination-free psychedelic-derived pill signals growing confidence that this once-fringe research area can yield a scalable, at-home alternative to chronic antidepressants.