BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Flex Pharma, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to creating innovative, novel treatments for neuromuscular disorders. Flex Pharma has demonstrated initial human efficacy related to muscle cramping in healthy volunteers. The Company plans to initiate randomized, controlled efficacy studies in patients with neuromuscular disorders in the first half of 2015.
Flex Pharma was founded by National Academy of Science members Rod MacKinnon, M.D. (2003 Nobel Laureate) and Bruce Bean, Ph.D., along with Christoph Westphal, M.D., Ph.D. The Company is backed by the Longwood Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, and EcoR1 Capital.
“We were inspired to create Flex Pharma with the vision that the practical application of our discoveries can help alleviate the suffering of patients with neuromuscular disorders, including muscle cramps and spasms,” said Co-founder and Scientific Advisory Board Co-chair Rod MacKinnon, M.D.
“We have taken a novel scientific approach and rapidly advanced our programs from discovery into early stage human clinical studies with the hope of addressing the underlying mechanisms related to a broad range of neuromuscular disorders,” added Co-founder and Scientific Advisory Board Co-chair Bruce Bean, Ph.D.
Flex Pharma’s recently formed Scientific Advisory Board consists of:
- Rod MacKinnon, M.D., Co-founder and Chair, is an Investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Professor, Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics at The Rockefeller University, member of the National Academy of Sciences and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
- Bruce Bean, Ph.D., Co-founder and Chair, is the Robert Winthrop Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
- Peter Elliott, Ph.D., is former Senior Vice President and Head of Research and Development of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., former Vice President of Pharmacology and Drug Development of Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and co-developer of Velcade.
- David Julius, Ph.D., is a Professor and Chair, Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco and member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.
- Roger Tung, Ph.D., is scientific Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc., founding scientist and former Vice President of Drug Discovery of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and a co-inventor of Lexiva and Agenerase.
- Christopher Walsh, Ph.D., is the Hamilton Kuhn Professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.
“We are honored to have the guidance of this distinguished group of leading academic and industry scientists as we advance the science and our clinical programs for the treatment of neuromuscular disorders,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Christoph Westphal, M.D., Ph.D.
