Quick Take:
- The LSU Health Foundation, New Orleans and its Board of Directors announced a $250,000 investment in biomedical firm Eleusis
The LSU Health Foundation, New Orleans and its Board of Directors are pleased to announce a $250,000 investment in the New York and London – based biomedical firm Eleusis. The mission of Eleusis and its Founder Shlomi Raz is to develop the full therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicines to treat inflammation-related and psychiatric diseases. Despite Eleusis being an international company, it has strong ties to the New Orleans area through both its leadership team and licensing of LSUHSC technologies.
Dr. Charles Nichols, a Professor at LSU Health Sciences Center, made the groundbreaking discovery that a class of serotonin 2A receptor agonists (psychedelics) can have powerful anti-inflammatory activity. Dr. Timothy Foster, also a Professor at LSU Health Sciences Center, further discovered that certain psychedelics have potent protective effects against inflammation and viral infection in models of ocular disease. Together, they have several US and International patents issued and pending and have partnered with Eleusis to advance this technology for clinical therapies. Dr. Foster and Dr. Nichols are currently studying mechanisms underlying these protective effects to further develop this technology and expand its potential to other disease indications.
Eleusis is committed to developing the exciting discoveries of Dr. Nichols and Dr. Foster into breakthrough therapies for chronic inflammatory disease, starting in ophthalmology, and warmly welcomes the LSU Health Foundation’s strategic investment.”
– Eleusis Founder and Chairman Shlomi Raz
“We are very excited about the Foundation’s investment in Eleusis. These funds will be directly reinvested into our research programs here at LSUHSC and facilitate overall discovery in our efforts to develop new medicines to treat inflammatory diseases” says Dr. Charles Nichols.
“The Foundation’s investment comes at a critical juncture in Eleusis’ translation of Dr. Nichols’ and our findings from bench to bedside. For all parties, it has been a productive collaboration and partnership. This support will greatly enhance our LSUHSC research efforts and unlock these drugs’ novel therapeutic potential for treatment of numerous inflammation-associated diseases.” says Dr. Timothy Foster.
“The LSU Health Foundation is extremely proud to invest in the talent of the LSU Health faculty utilizing our Mission Related Investment Fund,” says LSU Health Foundation, New Orleans President and CEO Matthew Altier. “The fund was created for just such solid start up initiatives such as Eleusis. Utilizing the fund allows the Foundation to assist with the hard work, innovation and creativity of some of the most outstanding scientists and researchers in the world so they may take their technology to the next level. We are now proudly part of the Eleusis team and very much look forward to their success.”
“This investment will help translate the research breakthroughs made by LSU Health New Orleans faculty into treatment advances that benefit those diagnosed with chronic eye diseases,” said Larry Hollier, MD, Chancellor of LSU Health New Orleans. “It is yet another example of the innovative solutions LSU Health New Orleans faculty are discovering to improve health.”
About LSU Health Foundation, New Orleans
The LSU Health Foundation New Orleans exists to support LSU Health New Orleans and its fourfold mission of patient care, education, research, and community outreach through fundraising, asset oversight and management, and the unification of donor passions with institutional priorities. Working together, all three contribute to the success of LSU Health New Orleans as it strives to Discover, Teach, Heal, and Serve. More information about this and other philanthropic opportunities at LSU Health New Orleans may be found at: www.lsuhealthfoundation.org.
About Eleusis Ltd.
Eleusis is a privately held, clinical stage life science company, established to unlock the transformative potential of psychoactive drugs, through the mitigation and management of psychoactivity. The company is developing an innovative platform of drug discovery and care delivery solutions to enable the transformation of groundbreaking university research into urgently needed therapeutic alternatives across a broad spectrum of inflammatory disease and mental health needs. Visit https://www.eleusisltd.com for more information.