WPSS.bio

WPSS.bio is a New York-based venture capital firm founded in 2019 that focuses on investing in innovative diagnostics and treatments aimed at enhancing central nervous system health. The firm targets advancements in technology and medicine, specifically in the domains of brain health, preventative medicine, and women's mental health. By supporting revolutionary developments in these areas, WPSS.bio aims to contribute to improving health outcomes and advancing the understanding of central nervous system disorders.

Daniel Weiss Pick

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

22 past transactions

Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals

Series B in 2022
Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a preclinical biotechnology company based in New York that specializes in developing novel psychotropic drugs aimed at treating mental illnesses. Established in 2019, the company focuses on creating innovative compounds that enhance the therapeutic benefits of classic psychedelics while improving safety, tolerability, duration, and efficacy. Gilgamesh addresses the growing global mental health crisis by providing treatments for various neuropsychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, and stress-related issues. Through a combination of medicinal chemistry and drug development expertise, the company aims to accelerate the availability of effective therapies, ultimately improving the quality of life for individuals suffering from central nervous system disorders.

Sensorium Therapeutics

Venture Round in 2022
Sensorium Therapeutics is a drug discovery platform based in Boston, Massachusetts, that focuses on developing novel FDA-approved psychoactive medicines. Founded in 2021, the company utilizes an artificial intelligence product engine to discover and develop drugs targeting central nervous system diseases. By integrating historical human efficacy data from natural compounds, Sensorium Therapeutics aims to create new medicines characterized by innovative pharmacology and improved clinical success rates. This approach enables pharmaceutical companies to enhance their drug development processes effectively.

Cordance Medical

Seed Round in 2022
Cordance Medical is a medical device company focused on developing innovative therapies for central nervous system (CNS) pathologies, including primary and metastatic cancers, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. The company has created a non-invasive ultrasound system that precisely opens the blood-brain barrier, allowing for targeted delivery of systemically administered drugs to specific brain regions. This low-power ultrasound technology aims to enhance diagnostic and therapeutic options for patients, providing a safe and effective means to address complex neurological conditions.

Osmind

Series B in 2022
Osmind Inc., established in 2020 and headquartered in San Jose, California, specializes in designing and developing healthcare software tailored for mental health providers and their patients. The company, led by a team of scientists, technologists, and psychiatrists, aims to advance evidence-based medicine for individuals with moderate to severe mental health conditions. Osmind's core product is a mental health operating platform, which includes an electronic health record system designed for interventional treatment workflows. This platform offers tools such as journaling and assistance with health plan reimbursement, enabling clinicians to explore novel therapeutic approaches and precision psychiatry, ultimately enhancing patient care.

Blackrock Neurotech

Convertible Note in 2021
Blackrock Neurotech is a company dedicated to developing advanced neurotechnology platforms designed to record bio-potentials from both the central and peripheral nervous systems for chronic and acute applications. The company's precision electrode technology is pivotal in numerous global innovations related to brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and neural signal processing and stimulation. Blackrock Neurotech aims to assist individuals with disabilities, enabling them to walk, talk, see, hear, and feel by providing the clinical community with innovative tools and expertise to create novel implantable solutions that enhance human lives.

Kanna Health

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Kanna Health is a preclinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing innovative therapeutics derived from kanna, or Sceletium tortuosum, a medicinal succulent used for centuries by the San hunter-gatherers of South Africa. The company aims to address significant unmet needs in sexual and mental health through its lead candidate, KH-001, which is based on alkaloids found in kanna. This candidate is designed to enhance mood and performance in men, offering potential treatments that are both effective and affordable.

Ceretype Neuromedicine

Convertible Note in 2021
Ceretype has pioneered the integration of fMRI into therapeutic applications in neuropsychiatry. Our uniquely scalable platform makes targeted biomarkers accessible, delivering actionable insights for our pharma/biotech partners. Our decades of expertise across neuromedicine, brain imaging, and industry processes enables innovations that will ultimately transform patient care.

Ksana Health

Seed Round in 2021
Ksana Health is a company based in Eugene, Oregon, founded in 2019, that specializes in digital mental health solutions. The company has developed a platform aimed at collecting and transferring mental health data from users to healthcare practitioners via an app. This platform provides personalized behavioral insights and just-in-time interventions, enabling continuous remote monitoring of patients. Additionally, it offers digital therapeutics designed to enhance mental health outcomes. Through its innovative approach, Ksana Health seeks to improve the accessibility and effectiveness of mental health care.

Appia Bio

Series A in 2021
Appia Bio is a biotechnology company dedicated to the research and development of allogeneic cell therapies that can be readily available for patients. The company focuses on creating engineered cell therapies for various medical conditions using its innovative ACUA technology platform. This platform utilizes the biology of lymphocyte development along with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T-cell receptor (TCR) gene engineering to produce CAR-engineered invariant natural killer T (CAR-iNKT) cell subtypes derived from hematopoietic stem cells. By maturing and scaling healthy stem cells into these therapies, Appia Bio aims to provide safe and targeted cancer treatments, thereby enhancing accessibility to off-the-shelf cell therapies for physicians and patients alike.

Eikon Therapeutics

Series A in 2021
Eikon Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company based in Hayward, California, focused on developing innovative treatments for chronic and life-threatening diseases. Founded in 2019, the company employs advanced super-resolution microscopy and live-cell imaging techniques to discover drugs targeting previously intractable proteins. By integrating biology, engineering, and chemistry, Eikon Therapeutics aims to enhance the understanding of cellular processes and improve drug discovery efficiency. Its proprietary platforms allow for the sensitive identification of compound-protein interactions, enabling the direct measurement of how chemical compounds affect individual proteins in live cells. This novel approach seeks to unlock new therapeutic opportunities and expand the company's pipeline of potential medications.

OccamzRazor

Convertible Note in 2021
OccamzRazor specializes in enhancing drug discovery and development through the integration of machine learning and advanced biological techniques. The company's innovative analysis pipeline employs two proprietary technologies, Panoramic AI and RazorBrain, which work together to extract valuable data from both unstructured sources, such as biomedical publications and patient-reported outcomes, and structured datasets, including genomics and proteomics. This comprehensive approach allows for the generation of robust drug discovery hypotheses and insights. OccamzRazor has successfully applied its platform to various applications, including biomedical text data extraction, novel target identification, and drug repurposing. Furthermore, the company is focused on developing a neuroscience therapeutics platform aimed at addressing Parkinson's Disease by creating an exhaustive knowledge graph that synthesizes existing biomedical data, ultimately supporting healthcare professionals in therapeutic strategy and drug development.

Sana Health

Seed Round in 2020
Sana Health, Inc. is a digital health company specializing in a bio-therapeutic device aimed at fostering relaxation to alleviate pain and tension. The company has developed a non-addictive mask and headphone system that employs audio-visual stimulation to enhance the balance between the brain's left and right hemispheres, facilitating a deep state of meditation. This innovative device uses coordinated pulses of light and sound to guide users into a restorative state, thereby improving mental well-being and addressing chronic pain and insomnia. In addition to the hardware, Sana Health offers a mobile application available on both the App Store and Google Play, allowing users to access its features conveniently. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Lafayette, Colorado, with an additional office in Mill Valley, California, Sana Health is involved in pivotal studies concerning its technology's applications for conditions such as fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain, as well as trials focusing on anxiety and PTSD.

Delix Therapeutics

Convertible Note in 2020
Delix Therapeutics is a neuroscience company focused on harnessing the power of psychoplastogens—novel neuroplasticity-promoting therapeutics—to better treat mental health disorders at scale. The company was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Enable Medicine

Venture Round in 2020
Enable Medicine is a biotechnology company based in Menlo Park, California, founded in 2019 by Aaron Mayer and Sunil Bodapati. The company specializes in spatial biology data, offering a cloud-based platform that facilitates the generation, management, and analysis of various biological image formats. Enable Medicine's platform provides end-to-end services, including custom panel development and advanced imaging technology, which support researchers, drug developers, and physicians in creating detailed cellular maps. This comprehensive approach enables users to extract valuable insights from diverse sample types, thereby accelerating the drug discovery process and reducing associated costs.

Perception Neuroscience

Convertible Note in 2020
Perception Neuroscience is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to creating innovative therapies for neuropsychiatric disorders. The company is primarily focused on developing arketamine, an NMDA antagonist that aims to offer effective treatment solutions for serious psychiatric conditions. Arketamine is designed to provide rapid-acting antidepressant effects and has the potential to reduce suicidal ideation, addressing a critical need in mental health care. Through its research and development efforts, Perception Neuroscience seeks to improve outcomes for patients suffering from challenging psychiatric illnesses.

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

Funding Round in 2020
MAPS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana. The organization is focused on developing psychedelics and marijuana into prescription medicines, training therapists and working to establish a network of treatment centers, supporting scientific research into spirituality, creativity, and neuroscience, and educating the public honestly about the risks and benefits of psychedelics and marijuana. MAPS was founded in 1986 by Rick Doblin and is headquartered in Santa Cruz, California.

OpenBiome

Seed Round in 2020
OpenBiome is a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding safe access to fecal microbiota transplants (FMT), and to catalyzing research into the human microbiome. Founded by a team of doctors, scientists and public health advocates, OpenBiome has two primary objectives.

Alto Neuroscience

Seed Round in 2020
Alto Neuroscience is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on improving mental health treatment through personalized medicine. By utilizing an AI-enabled biomarker platform, Alto integrates detailed patient data regarding brain activity and behavior to develop effective therapeutics for specific populations. The company aims to transform the traditional trial-and-error approach in psychiatry by matching the appropriate treatment to individual patients, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of interventions. Alto's clinical-stage assets include various products targeting conditions such as depressive disorders and schizophrenia, identified through independent brain-based biomarkers. Through its innovative approach, Alto Neuroscience seeks to redefine psychiatric care at a critical time for mental health.

Cambrian Biopharma

Series A in 2019
Cambrian Biopharma is building the medicines that will modernize healthcare in the 21st century – therapeutics to lengthen healthspan, the period of life spent in good health. As a Distributed Development Company (or DisCo), Cambrian is advancing multiple scientific breakthroughs, each targeting a biological driver of aging. Our approach is to develop interventions that treat specific diseases first, then deploy them as preventative medicines to improve quality of life/overall quality of life as we age.

ATAI Life Sciences

Secondary Market in 2019
ATAI Life Sciences AG is a biotechnology company based in Munich, Germany, with additional offices in Berlin and London. Founded in 2018, the company focuses on developing innovative therapies for mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. ATAI utilizes psychedelic compounds and other therapeutic methods to address these conditions, collaborating with various partners and research institutions to enhance its drug development pipeline. Its clinical-stage product portfolio features therapies such as COMP360 (Psilocybin therapy), PCN-101 (R-ketamine), and others derived from compounds like MDMA and ibogaine. By working with experts in the field, ATAI aims to ensure the efficacy and safety of its treatments. The company has garnered recognition for its contributions to mental health research and has secured partnerships and funding to further its initiatives in transforming mental health care.

COMPASS Pathways

Convertible Note in 2019
COMPASS Pathways is a mental health care company based in Cheshire, United Kingdom, with operations in the United States. The company is focused on developing innovative therapies for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) using its proprietary psilocybin formulation, COMP360. Currently undergoing Phase IIb clinical trials, COMP360 aims to provide a new treatment option for patients who have not responded to traditional depression therapies. COMPASS Pathways emphasizes the combination of psilocybin-assisted therapy with psychological support to enhance treatment efficacy. The company is committed to addressing the significant unmet needs in mental health care by advancing evidence-based solutions for those suffering from mental health challenges.

Psy Therapeutics

Seed Round in 2019
Psy Therapeutics is engaged in discovering and developing innovative medicines aimed at enhancing the lives of individuals affected by central nervous system (CNS) disorders, particularly focusing on anxiety, depression, and dementia. The company employs a comprehensive research strategy that involves identifying proven drug targets and utilizing advanced screening platforms. By leveraging flexible research and development tools, Psy Therapeutics seeks to provide healthcare professionals with effective therapeutic options for neuropsychiatric conditions, thereby contributing to improved patient care in this critical area of healthcare.
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