J.R. Rahn to become sole CEO; Perry Dellelce to become Chair; Stephen Hurst retires as executive but remains on board; Stanley Glick retires as board member
TORONTO, Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — MindMed (NEO: MMED,OTCQB: MMEDF, DE: MMQ), a leading psychedelic medicine biotech company, streamlined its leadership team to further develop the company’s strategy of integrating its psychedelic clinical development programs with innovative digital technologies.
As part of this, Stephen Hurst will retire from his co-CEO and Executive Chair positions but will remain on the board of directors. Dr. Glick has retired from his position on the board of directors but will continue to act as a scientific advisor. The vacancy on the board of directors created by Dr. Glick’s retirement will be filled by the board after completing an extensive search and interview process for suitable candidates and as required as part of its NASDAQ uplisting application.
J.R. Rahn will take on sole responsibility as Chief Executive Officer of the Company and Perry Dellelce has been appointed as Chair of the board of directors. This evolution of executive management will bolster MindMed’s strategy with a team that includes Dr. Miri Wernli Halperin as President and Head of Clinical and Carol Nast as Chief Operating Officer, as well as Robert Barrow who was recently hired as Chief Development Officer to expand on the company’s later stage clinical trial pipeline and drug development efforts at the FDA. Before joining MindMed, Robert Barrow helped gain a Breakthrough Therapy Designation for a Phase 2 trial of psilocybin in Major Depressive Disorder at the FDA.
Under the MindMed 2.0 leadership team, the company is also actively growing its digital medicine division for psychedelic medicines through the hiring of new technologists and undertaking potential technology platform acquisitions.
J.R. Rahn said: “Steve and Dr. Glick played instrumental early roles in establishing a world class scientific and drug development team. I am grateful for their contributions to get us to today and look forward to continuing to have trusted scientific guidance moving forward. As we increase our headcount and grow our MindMed ‘Ark’ of technologists, drug developers, scientific researchers, regulatory experts, psychiatrists and drug manufacturing specialists, the entire psychedelic medicine space is edging closer to getting these potential medicines into the hands of patients. In doing so, we must also turn our efforts and open our unified strategy to technology, distribution platforms and other growth opportunities to remain a leader in this space. Our streamlined leadership team and MindMed 2.0 strategy will continue to help define MindMed as a leader in the psychedelics space and as a specialist in digital medicine.”
Perry Dellelce, the new chair of the board of directors, stated: “Steve is one of the founders of MindMed and we cannot thank him enough for all he did in laying the foundation for our growth and success. We wish him well in retirement and are extremely thankful that he will remain on the board to allow us to take advantage of his knowledge and insights. We are also thankful to Dr. Glick for his service on the board and look forward to his continued, valued scientific insights.”
Stephen Hurst stated: “MindMed has grown into an incredible company and I am happy to see it continuing on its way to achieving its goal of discovering, developing and deploying psychedelic inspired medicines and therapies to address addiction and mental illness. I look forward to continuing to assist this incredible company as a board member.”
