HMNC Brain Health is a precision medicine pioneer in psychiatry based in Munich. Founded in 2010, HMNC Brain Health’s privately held biotech company combines the development of machine learning-enabled companion diagnostics with specific therapeutics to personalize the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders with a focus on depression. Pulse 2.0 interviewed HMNC Brain Health Associate Director of Biomarkers Dr. Daniel Gehrlach to learn more about the company.
Dr. Gehrlach’s Background
What is Dr. Daniel Gehrlach’s background? Dr. Gehrlach said:
“How can some substances so reliably but drastically alter our consciousness? And how can we use Psychopharmacology to help people suffering from mental health issues? That’s what´s driving me and made me pursue studies in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Medical Neuroscience. This was followed by a PhD at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Munich, where my research focused on preclinical models of affective disorders, particularly in anxiety, depression, and addiction using cutting-edge technologies like in-vivo optogenetics, in-vivo 2-photon imaging, fiber photometry or genetically engineered rabies viruses.”
“During my time at the Max Planck Institute, I was fortunate to receive the Young Scientist Award in 2019 for my projects published in Nature Neuroscience, Science and eLife.”
“My experience in translational neuroscience research has been invaluable in my current role at HMNC Brain Health, where we’re leading a shift in how we approach mental health treatment using precision psychiatry.”
“At HMNC Brain Health, I am the Clinical Project Lead for the Nelivabon Program. There, we run a Phase II clinical trial – termed OLIVE – investigating a novel approach to treating Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).”
“In addition, I am leading the biomarker team which is responsible for co-development of our companion diagnostics across our programs. This biomarker research underpins our precision psychiatry platform by using genetic selection tools and machine-learning to tailor treatments for psychiatric conditions like MDD.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Dr. Gehrlach reflected:
“A favorite memory was to finally hold the investigational drug product of the OLIVE trial in my hands, as well as the moment we learned about our first patient entering the study. Since then, for every patient that enters the trial, I am ringing a small bell in our office.”
“Another standout moment for me has been seeing the positive impact of our Phase II clinical trial results for HMNC’s Ketabon program with our lead Asset KET01, an oral prolonged-release Ketamine formulation which demonstrated early improvements in depressive severity. It was incredibly rewarding to witness the tangible benefits our approach is bringing to patients who had previously been underserved by traditional psychiatric treatments. I strongly believe in the potential of Ketamine and KET01 in particular.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Dr. Gehrlach explained:
“HMNC Brain Health is at the forefront of mental healthcare with our precision psychiatry approach. Our platform uses advanced genomic and statistical technologies to predict individual responses to psychiatric medications, which aims to dramatically improve treatment efficacy and reduces both costs and time, which gets patients feeling better faster. One of our core focuses is addressing MDD by investigating the stress-axis. Stress is not a bad thing per-se. However, a chronically overactive stress-axis can have detrimental consequences, leading or contributing to a depressive episode— however, our data suggests it´s roughly the case in 30-50% of MDD patients. By personalizing treatment for this subset of patients, we aim to redefine how mental health conditions are treated.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Dr. Gehrlach and the team face in building the company? Dr. Gehrlach acknowledged:
“The mental healthcare sector, particularly in the field of psychiatric treatment, has long been plagued by a lack of innovation, with most treatments following a “one size fits all” approach. Overcoming this more than two-decade stagnation has been a major challenge, but our precision psychiatry platform is designed to address these gaps. Nevertheless, the biggest challenge for us is to obtain valuable clinical trial data and biological samples of patients. We cannot simply use large biobanks, as we need to know what predicts a treatment response to a specific molecule or treatment.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Dr. Gehrlach noted:
“Our technology is fundamentally based on scientific insights of our founder Prof. Dr. Florian Holsboer, who led the Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry for three decades. Since incorporation of HMNC, we have fine-tuned our algorithms and implemented modern methodology in our machine learning algorithms, such as nested cross-validation. Additionally, we are exploring multi-omic selection tools using genetic, epigenetic and transcriptomic data which we collected in our clinical trials.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Dr. Gehrlach cited:
“The company has achieved several significant milestones, including the completion of studies KET01-02, KET01-03, and KET-IIT-02 in Zürich. Additionally, we successfully produced the Investigational Medicinal Product (IMP) for the OLIVE study, ensuring that it commenced on schedule. Initially, we planned to conduct the study in Ukraine and Russia but quickly pivoted to other countries to maintain our timeline. Another key milestone was our collaboration with Spruce Biosciences regarding Cortibon. Notably, we also met our goal of 90% randomization in the OLIVE study at the time of this Q&A.”
Funding
When asking Dr. Gehrlach about the company’s funding details, he revealed:
“HMNC Brain Health is well-positioned for growth. Our successful clinical trials and strong partnerships with academic institutions like Max Planck Society have opened up several opportunities for expansion. We’re committed to continuing our innovation in the mental healthcare space and are actively exploring new partnerships and collaborations to scale our platform.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Dr. Gehrlach affirmed:
“What sets HMNC Brain Health apart is our precision psychiatry platform which not only improves efficacy but also reduces treatment time and costs. We have seen this in cancer treatments, but few have truly investigated how this approach can help with mental health illness. Additionally, our ability to repurpose existing drugs for specific genetic profiles is a major differentiator, allowing us to bring innovative solutions to patients who haven’t benefited from traditional treatments with drugs that we already know are safe, but may not have been available as options.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Dr. Gehrlach concluded:
“Looking ahead, our goal is to continue scaling our precision psychiatry platform by integrating additional biomarkers and clinical data. We’re also focused on expanding our multi-omics platform, which will allow us to further enhance our personalized medicine capabilities. Additionally, we aim to explore new therapeutic contexts by repurposing existing drugs that were previously shelved or not broadly approved. Ultimately, our vision is to transform the mental healthcare landscape by delivering highly effective, personalized treatments that address the diverse needs of patients worldwide.”
