Axonis Therapeutics is a Boston-based, neuro-focused biotechnology company developing first- and best-in-class oral small-molecule medicines that target KCC2, a chloride transporter that acts as the brain's master regulator of inhibitory neurotransmission. Spun out of research from Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Universite Laval, Axonis is advancing its lead candidate AXN-027 - a first-in-class KCC2 potentiator - toward clinical proof of concept in epilepsy, chronic pain and other CNS disorders, backed by an oversubscribed $115 million Series A closed in 2024.
NeuShen Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotech developing novel small-molecule and gene-therapy treatments for central nervous system disorders such as schizophrenia, depression and epilepsy. Founded in 2021 by Joan Huaqiong Shen, MD, PhD, and headquartered in Shanghai with an R&D center in the Boston area, the company runs a pipeline led by NS-136, a selective M4 receptor positive allosteric modulator for schizophrenia, and NS-041, a highly selective KCNQ2/3 activator for epilepsy and depression.
Joanna Stanicka is the co-founder, president and CEO of Axonis Therapeutics, a Boston clinical-stage biotech developing first-in-class oral medicines that target the brain chloride transporter KCC2 to treat epilepsy, neuropathic pain and spinal cord injury. A Harvard-trained neuroscientist who began her career in cancer biology in Ireland, she moved from the bench to the boardroom, taking Axonis from a Boston Children's Hospital discovery to a company that raised a $115 million Series A in 2024 and pushed its lead drug, AXN-027, into first-in-human trials.
Louis Licamele, PhD is a computer scientist turned drug developer who serves as Chief Development Officer and EVP of Clinical and Data Science at Bloom Science, a San Diego biotech building microbiome-based, ketogenic-mimicking live biotherapeutics for obesity and neurological disease. A founding team member, he oversees biostatistics, clinical data management, and data-driven trial design for the company's lead candidate BL-001. He built his career at the intersection of data and medicine - a BS in biology and computer science from Georgetown, a PhD in computer science from the University of Maryland, and senior informatics and biometrics roles at Vanda Pharmaceuticals and REGENXBIO. He also runs The Licamele Group, advising healthcare companies on data science, AI, and regulatory strategy.
Christopher Reyes is a biophysicist turned serial biotech entrepreneur and the CEO, co-founder, and director of Bloom Science, a San Diego company developing living medicines that harness the gut-brain axis. Bloom's lead program, BL-001, is a first-in-class oral live biotherapeutic designed to replicate the anti-seizure effects of the ketogenic diet, built on technology licensed from UCLA. With a PhD in biophysics from UCSF and a track record that includes a fast-acquired cancer startup, Reyes is betting that genetically optimized gut bacteria can treat pharmacoresistant neurological diseases.
Bloom Science is a San Diego clinical-stage biotech translating the biology of the ketogenic diet into oral live biotherapeutics that act through the gut-immune-brain axis. Built on microbiome research licensed from UCLA and powered by its IrisRx discovery platform, the company is developing BL-001, a once-daily bacterial therapy being studied in obesity and in drug-resistant seizures from Dravet syndrome, with a pipeline reaching toward ALS and neurodegenerative disease.
Neura Health is a virtual neurology clinic that gives the 145 million Americans living with neurological conditions fast access to board-certified neurologists, dedicated care coaches, and an app-based treatment plan. Founded in 2020 by Elizabeth Burstein and Sameer Madan, the company pairs telehealth video visits with always-on care navigation to cut the typical months-long wait for a neurologist down to about a week, treating headache and migraine, epilepsy, sleep disorders, concussion, stroke recovery, tremor, long COVID, and memory disorders.