One of the more hopeful things about the early days of the psychedelic medicine industry was that it was founded by true believers. Despite the surging valuations and stock prices, the leaders of the biggest companies — MindMed’s JR Rahn, Angermayer at Atai, Ronan Levy at Field Trip — were not only executives but advocates, often with personal connections to the potential of psychedelics to heal.

This was a crucial point for many, especially those who worried about the future pharmatization (is that a word?) of the space. Passionate true believer CEOs would remain focused on what matters and keep the corporate sharks at bay.

But then fan-favorite JR Rahn was replaced by Robert Barrow. While Barrow is by no means a big pharma suit (he was a director at the non-profit Usona Institute), he does come from a pharma background with experience in drug development. Which is a trend we’re likely to continue to see — passionate founders eventually getting replaced by experienced pharma executives.

Which makes sense, we’re trying to get drugs approved through the laborious clinical trial process. This is the holy grail we’re chasing and where the money is. Only logical to bring on executives’ experiences in such things.

George Goldsmith is another member of that first class of founders, coming from a psychology and entrepreneurship background and helping guide Compass to the top tier of the industry. He’s now being replaced by Kabir Nath, former Senior Director at pharma giant Otsuka Pharmaceuticals.

Is this good news? Potentially. Having an experienced leader to help guide Compass through Phase 3 with the FDA is important for both the company and the industry. And Otsuka is leading the way in bringing psychedelics into the Big Pharma fold, already signing two deals with psychedelic firms, so we can assume this new appointment will further deepen the relationship between the two industries, leading to new partnerships and capital infusion.

Should we be wary? Always. How will the psychedelic medicine space maintain its vision of re-defining the status quo, of revolutionizing how we handle mental health, if we populate our ranks with folks from the very institutions we’re trying to change?

Good question.

COMPASS Pathways appoints Kabir Nath as Chief Executive Officer

Kabir Nath will build upon COMPASS’ success and lead the development of novel models of care to accelerate patient access to evidence-based innovation in mental health care

George Goldsmith remains COMPASS’ Chairman

London, UK – July 19, 2022

COMPASS Pathways plc (Nasdaq: CMPS) (“COMPASS”), a mental health care company dedicated to accelerating patient access to evidence-based innovation in mental health, today announced that it has appointed Kabir Nath as Chief Executive Officer, effective August 1, 2022. George Goldsmith, COMPASS’ current CEO and Chairman, will serve as the company’s Executive Chairman from August 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 to facilitate the transition, and remain as Chairman after that.

Kabir Nath brings decades of experience in the health care industry to his new role, most recently serving as Senior Managing Director of global pharmaceuticals at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and previously as President and CEO of Otsuka’s North America Pharmaceutical Business, where he led the development of pharmaceutical products and digital solutions addressing complex mental health needs. Prior to Otsuka, Kabir held various leadership positions at Bristol Myers Squibb, a global biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative medicines for patients with serious diseases. Kabir holds an MA in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from INSEAD.

George Goldsmith, current CEO and Chairman of COMPASS Pathways, said, “We founded COMPASS Pathways to transform mental health care by creating a personalised, predictive and preventative model of care. As we enter the next stage of development, Kabir brings a track record of successful strategic growth and a deep dedication to this mission. Working alongside our talented leadership team, he will leverage his extensive background in leading the commercialisation of innovative therapies to bring COMP360 psilocybin therapy to the large number of patients who are not currently being helped by existing treatments.”

“I have a deep appreciation for the mission, scientific rigour and commitment to innovation of the COMPASS team who are developing evidence-based and accessible options for some of the world’s most serious mental health conditions,” said Kabir Nath. “I had the good fortune of being able to establish a strong working relationship with George, his co-founder Ekaterina Malievskaia and some of the COMPASS leadership team and Board members through Otsuka’s investment in COMPASS’ Series B investment round. I have seen first-hand how their passion for this company continues shaping the future of mental health care. I am grateful for this opportunity and excited to execute COMPASS’ vision, bringing its work to the next level to achieve better health outcomes for patients.”

In his new role, Kabir will continue building on COMPASS’ success and advancing patient access to evidence-based technology-enabled innovative care models combining pharmacological, psychological and digital solutions.

George Goldsmith will continue in his role as Chairman helping shape COMPASS’ leadership in public-private partnerships, advocacy and policy efforts to improve outcomes in mental health at scale.

Having established COMPASS Pathways in 2016, George has overseen COMPASS’ growth from start-up to a leader in the mental health care field through COMPASS’ ground-breaking initial public offering in 2020. His expertise and support of COMPASS’ regulatory efforts enabled the company to achieve FDA breakthrough therapy designation and Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP) designation in the UK for patients suffering with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). He also developed partnerships with leading academic institutions and the UK National Health Service (NHS), oversaw the build out of the company’s advanced Machine Learning, AI and digital health research capabilities, and helped lead the largest randomised controlled double-blind studies of COMP360 therapy in healthy volunteers and patients with treatment-resistant depression, pioneering integrative therapies that can create value for health systems and bring renewed hope for millions of patients worldwide.

-Ends-

About COMPASS Pathways

COMPASS Pathways plc (Nasdaq: CMPS) is a mental health care company dedicated to accelerating patient access to evidence-based innovation in mental health. Our focus is on improving the lives of those who are suffering with mental health challenges and who are not helped by current treatments. We are pioneering the development of a new model of psilocybin therapy, in which our proprietary formulation of synthetic psilocybin, COMP360, is administered in conjunction with psychological support. COMP360 has been designated a Breakthrough Therapy by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), and we have completed a phase IIb clinical trial of psilocybin therapy for TRD, in 22 sites across Europe and North America. This was the largest randomised, controlled, double-blind psilocybin therapy clinical trial ever conducted, and our topline data showed a statistically significant (p<0.001) and clinically relevant improvement in depressive symptom severity after three weeks for patients who received a single high dose of COMP360 psilocybin with psychological support. We are also running a phase II clinical trial of COMP360 psilocybin therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). COMPASS is headquartered in London, UK, with offices in New York and San Francisco in the US. Our vision is a world of mental wellbeing. www.compasspathways.com