For World Mental Health Day, we spoke to Dr Rob Conley, our Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, to learn more about the current treatment landscape for mental health conditions like depression and substance use disorders and hear his hopes for the next generation of mental health treatments. As Chief Scientific and Medical Officer at Beckley Psytech, Rob oversees all of our clinical research and development. Rob previously served as Senior Vice President at Eleusis and Chief Science Officer, Late Phase Neuroscience at Eli Lilly and Co. Prior to that, he had a long clinical and academic career, first at the University of Pittsburgh, where he completed a Psychiatry residency and was Chief Resident, and then at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he remains an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology at Maryland.

Beckley Psytech announced that it will be presenting data on BPL-003, a novel synthetic intranasal formulation of 5-MeO-DMT benzoate, in two poster presentations at the ECNP 2024 Congress in Milan, Italy on Sunday 22nd and Monday 23rd September. BPL-003 is Beckley Psytech’s novel synthetic intranasal formulation of 5-MeO-DMT benzoate and is currently under investigation in Phase II studies as a potential therapy for Treatment Resistant Depression and Alcohol Use Disorder. BPL-003 has been specifically designed to overcome some of the challenges of first-generation psychedelics and existing mental health treatments and produce rapid and lasting treatment effects within a short time in clinic of less than 2 hours. 

Dr. Hershberg is Co-Founder, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Hillevax Inc., a NASDAQ-listed biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialisation of novel vaccine candidates. He is also a Venture Partner with Frazier Healthcare Partners and has been working with Frazier and its portfolio companies as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Senior Advisor, and executive for the last 14 years. Alongside news of Dr Hershberg’s appointment, Beckley Psytech also announced that Lady Amanda Feilding, Co-Founder of Beckley Psytech, will be stepping down from the Board in order to focus her work as Executive Director of The Beckley Foundation. She will continue supporting the Beckley Psytech team as a senior scientific and strategic advisor.