VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bright Minds Biosciences (“Bright Minds” or the “Company”), a biotechnology company focused on developing novel transformative treatments for neuropsychiatry disorders, epilepsy and pain, today announced two additions to its leadership team and one new scientific advisor as follows:

• Jianmin Duan, PhD, Vice President, Pharmacology, will lead Bright Minds’ preclinical testing work.
• Thomas Grizzle, Vice President, Toxicology, will lead Bright Minds’ efforts around the safety and biological effects of its therapeutics.
• Krista Lanctot, PhD, Advisor, will join Bright Minds’ Scientific Advisory team.

“The additions of Jianmin, Tom and Krista to the Bright Minds team will help us to accelerate the advancement of our development pipeline as we broaden our core scientific strengths. Jianmin is a well-respected PK/PD specialist whose experience will guide our drug development program. Similarly, Tom has been a sought-after consultant and renowned toxicologist who has helped many companies navigate the complexities of ensuring drug safety standards. As a Key Opinion Leader studying Alzheimer’s disease, Krista’s work focuses on cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with dementia. Each of these talented individuals brings decades of experience that will help us progress our approach of using serotonin agonists to develop improved therapeutics to address a variety of mental health, epilepsy and pain management needs,” stated Ian McDonald, Chief Executive Officer of Bright Minds.

Jianmin Duan, PhD, is an experienced pharmaceutical research and development scientist with expertise in drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, pharmacokinetics and pharmacology. Prior to joining Bright Minds, Dr. Duan was an independent consultant to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, guiding R&D evaluations, regulatory submissions, implementing and validating novel biological assays, CMC, experimental design, data analysis, formulation design, cross-species predictions, and selecting and implementing PK/PD/Tox models to inform drug development decisions. Previously, Dr. Duan spent more than 20 years at Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd. in roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as Director, Preclinical ADMEPK/Pharmacology. He has authored more than 50 papers that have appeared in peer-reviewed journals and holds three patents. Dr. Duan received a B.Sc. in Biology from Shandong Normal University and a PhD in Pharmacology from Dalhousie University.

Thomas Grizzle is an experienced toxicologist, specializing in pharmacokinetics; safety pharmacology; absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME); bioanalytical chemistry; project management; and report writing. Before joining Bright Minds, Mr. Grizzle was a successful consultant, advising clients across these critical domains and helping them achieve successful outcomes. Prior to establishing his consultancy, he was a Senior Toxicologist at Icagen, Inc. and Triangle Pharmaceuticals. He received an MS in Physiology/Biochemistry from North Carolina State University and holds Diplomate Certifications in General Toxicology and Safety Pharmacology.

Krista Lanctot, PhD, is a Senior Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute and a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include optimizing the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with illness, including mood changes, apathy, aggression, and cognitive changes. Dr. Lanctot’s broad experience includes running clinical trials for cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with dementia, including neuropsychiatric symptoms secondary to central nervous system pathology; neuroimaging, serum protein, lipid and metabolite biomarkers; and medical, dietary and exercise interventions. Dr. Lanctot’s work focuses on determining the underlying neurobiology of neuropsychiatric symptoms, examining predictors of treatment response, using novel pharmacological agents, and carefully considering adverse drug events. Dr. Lanctot received a BSc in Pharmacology and Toxicology, an MS in Clinical Pharmacology and a PhD in Clinical Pharmacology from the University of Toronto.

About Bright Minds
Bright Minds is focused on developing novel transformative treatments for neuropsychiatry disorders, epilepsy and pain. Bright Minds has a portfolio of next generation serotonin agonists designed to precisely target abnormalities in neurocircuitry that lead to dysfunctional behaviors. The Company is developing targeted therapies with the potential to improve the treatment of mental health and neurological disorders through the use of serotonergic compounds leveraging its world class scientific and drug development expertise to bring forward the next generation of safe and efficacious drugs. Bright Minds’ drugs extenuate the therapeutic aspects of psychedelic and other serotonergic compounds while minimizing the side effects thereby creating superior drugs to first-generation compounds, such as psilocybin.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the date of listing of the Shares and the advancement of the Company’s drug development program, and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as “will”, “may”, “should”, “anticipate”, “expects” and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, and which are described in the Company’s public filings available under its profile at www.sedar.com. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not intend to update any of the included forward-looking statements except as required by Canadian securities laws.