Novel Serotonergic Agonists Positioned to Capture Share of $150B+ Neuropsychiatric Market

Improved efficacy, faster onset, and scalable platforms drive investor interest in next-gen CNS assets 

Market News Updates News Commentary

NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2026 /CNW/ -- Novel serotonergic agonists ("NSAs") are quickly becoming one of the more interesting stories in mental-health and neuroscience investing. In simple terms, these drugs work by activating specific serotonin receptors in the brain to produce faster and more meaningful results than traditional antidepressants. For investors, the appeal is clear: current treatments like SSRIs often take weeks to work and don't help a large portion of patients, while NSAs are being designed to act quicker, last longer, and potentially treat tough conditions like depression, PTSD, anxiety, and addiction more effectively.  Active Companies in the biotech space include:  Helus PharmaTM (NASDAQ: HELP) (Cboe CA: HELP), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV), Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (NYSE: TAK) and AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN).

From a market perspective, the opportunity is large and growing. The global market for depression and anxiety treatments alone is estimated to exceed $50–60 billion annually, and the broader neuropsychiatric drug market is projected to surpass $150 billion by the end of the decade. As awareness and acceptance of new serotonin-based therapies increase, NSAs are positioned to capture a meaningful slice of this spend--especially if clinical data continues to show rapid symptom relief and improved patient outcomes. Investors tend to focus on upcoming clinical milestones, FDA pathways, and early commercialization signals as key value drivers.

Longer term, NSAs also fit well into the acquisition and partnership strategies of large pharmaceutical companies looking to refresh aging CNS pipelines. A single successful NSA platform can support multiple indications, creating built-in expansion opportunities and upside optionality. As mental health remains a top global healthcare priority and capital continues flowing into differentiated CNS assets, NSAs are increasingly viewed as a scalable, high-impact category with the potential to generate strong returns for early and long-term investors alike.

Helus Pharma Appoints Michael Cola as Chief Executive Officer to Lead Next Phase of Scale and Execution   

• Former President of Shire PLC's ("Shire") Specialty Pharmaceutical business, with more than 30 years of experience across neuroscience, rare disease, and specialty pharmaceuticals, including senior leadership roles at Astra-Merck and AstraZeneca PLC
• Proven leader in late-stage clinical development, global commercialization, and capital formation across central nervous system ("CNS") programs
• Appointed as Helus Pharma advances its pipeline toward key clinical milestones, including expected Phase 2 data for HLP004 this quarter and Phase 3 topline data for HLP003 later this year
• This news release constitutes a "designated news release" for the purpose of the Company's prospectus supplement dated December 30, 2025, to it short form base shelf prospectus dated September 17, 2025, as amended on December 19, 2025.

Helus PharmaTM (NASDAQ: HELP) (Cboe CA: HELP) ("Helus"), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company committed to helping minds heal by developing novel serotonergic agonists ("NSAs"), today announced the appointment of Michael Cola as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

Mr. Cola's appointment comes at a pivotal moment as Helus advances its pipeline of next-generation mental health therapies toward key clinical and corporate value-inflection milestones, including the expected release of Phase 2 data for HLP004 this quarter and Phase 3 topline data for HLP003 in Q4 2026. In parallel, Helus continues to build a broad and defensible intellectual property estate spanning its multi-asset pipeline, with more than 350 patent applications filed globally and over 100 patents granted. The Company is advancing differentiated programs designed to address serious mental health disorders. With the transition from early clinical development to later-stage execution underway, the Company is increasingly focused on global regulatory engagement and long-term commercial planning. This evolution underscores the importance of experienced leadership across drug development, capital formation, and global scale-up.

"Michael brings a rare combination of deep neuroscience expertise, global commercialization experience, and proven capital markets leadership," said co-founder and Executive Chairman Eric So. "As Helus advances its differentiated mental health pipeline, his track record of building first-in-class CNS franchises and scaling global organizations makes him uniquely suited to lead Helus as we work to translate our science into meaningful therapies for patients and long-term value for shareholders."

With more than 30 years of experience across neuroscience, rare disease, and specialty pharmaceuticals, Mr. Cola brings deep expertise in guiding innovative CNS assets through development and into global markets, building high-performance organizations, and creating long-term shareholder value. His career spans senior leadership roles across R&D, commercialization, corporate strategy, and capital formation, positioning him to lead Helus through its next phase of growth.

"I am honored to join Helus at this pivotal and energizing moment," said Mr. Cola. "With highly differentiated HLP003 clinical data already in hand and a robust pipeline of novel compounds in development, Helus is uniquely positioned to advance a new paradigm in the treatment of serious mental health disorders. I'm excited to work alongside the Board and the Helus team to build on this foundation and translate scientific progress into lasting patient and shareholder impact."

As President of Shire's Specialty Pharmaceutical business, Mr. Cola helped transform the company into a global CNS leader, launching and scaling breakthrough therapies, including building Vyvanse into a multi-billion-dollar franchise, and contributing to Shire's growth from a $5 billion to a $20 billion market-capitalization, helping position the company for its subsequent $62 billion acquisition by Takeda, one of the largest pharmaceutical acquisitions in the industry. Earlier in his career, Mr. Cola was one of the founding hires at Merck selected to help create Astra-Merck, one of the most successful pharmaceutical spinouts, formed to commercialize Prilosec, a franchise that at one point generated more than $6 billion in annual revenue. He later held senior leadership roles at AstraZeneca PLC supporting the lifecycle expansion of Prilosec and the transition to Nexium.

More recently, Mr. Cola served as President and CEO of Avalo Therapeutics, Inc., where he led the transition to a rare disease and genomic medicine focus, licensed first-in-class clinical-stage assets, and raised significant funding. He has also served in senior board leadership roles, including as Chairman of Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and as a former board member of Sage Therapeutics, Inc., supporting organizations through clinical inflection points and commercial launches.

Mr. Cola holds a B.A. in Biology from Ursinus College, an M.S. in Biomedical Science and Engineering from Drexel University and studied Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also worked as a biomedical engineer at its affiliated hospital.  Continued…  Read this full release and additional news for Helus PharmaTM by visiting:  https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-help/

Next-Wave Mental Health and Other Biotech Drugs Attract Pharma and Capital Alike for active pharma companies may also include:

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) recently announced 12-month pilot-phase data from the OMNY-AF study, evaluating the investigational OMNYPULSE Platform for the treatment of symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AFib), during the 31st Annual AF Symposium in Boston. Initial results for 12-month outcomes across the 30-patient pilot cohort show investigators achieved 100% acute procedural success with no procedure-associated adverse events, while 56.7% of cases were performed with zero fluoroscopy and 90% of patients achieved primary effectiveness at 12 months.

OMNY-AF is a prospective, single-arm, multi-center clinical trial conducted across more than 40 sites in the U.S. and Australia. The study pairs the OMNYPULSE Catheter, a 12 mm large-tip focal catheter featuring contact-force sensing and bipolar, biphasic pulse delivery with the TRUPULSE Generator. This integrated design combines precise mapping, controlled energy delivery and live feedback through the PF index on the CARTO 3 System. The OMNYPULSE Platform is not currently approved in any region of the world.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) recently announced that it has submitted applications for a new indication to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) for upadacitinib (RINVOQ®; 15 mg, once daily) for the treatment of adult and adolescent patients living with non-segmental vitiligo (NSV). The regulatory submissions to the FDA and EMA are supported by previously announced results from the Viti-Up studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of upadacitinib in patients with NSV.

Vitiligo is a chronic, autoimmune disease that imposes a significant psychosocial burden, profoundly affecting an individual's confidence, identity and daily life. NSV, the most common form of vitiligo (afflicting approximately 84% of patients), is marked by symmetrical and bilateral depigmented white patches and is prone to unpredictable progression even after long periods of stability. Vitiligo management is anchored in three primary treatment goals: disease stabilization, re-pigmentation, and maintaining re-pigmentation. There are currently no approved systemic medicines for achieving these treatment goals in vitiligo.

Iambic, a clinical-stage life science and technology company developing novel medicines using its AI-driven discovery and development platform, recently announced a multi-year technology and discovery collaboration agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (NYSE: TAK) that will use Iambic's industry leading AI drug discovery models to advance a select set of high-priority small molecule programs, initially in Takeda's Oncology and Gastrointestinal and Inflammation therapeutic areas. Through the agreement, Takeda will also gain access to NeuralPLexer, Iambic's industry leading model for predicting protein-ligand complexes.

"Our collaboration with Takeda is a powerful opportunity to apply our AI-driven discovery and development platform, and we are excited to partner with their team to quickly advance new and better drug candidates," said Tom Miller, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO of Iambic. "This collaboration further validates our industry-leading technology and highlights both the breadth of our discovery capabilities and the scale at which we can operate."

AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) began trading its ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for the first time, enabling more US investors to participate in the Company's strong growth. With this change the trading of AstraZeneca ordinary shares is now aligned across the NYSE, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Nasdaq Stockholm (STO) under a harmonized listing structure.

Michel Demaré, Chair, AstraZeneca, said: "Today marks the start of an exciting new period for AstraZeneca, one which we believe gives broader access to the largest capital market in the world. This will allow even more investors to participate in AstraZeneca's future. Our harmonized listing across New York, London and Stockholm reflects strong shareholder support for our growth strategy and positions AstraZeneca to deliver more innovative medicines to more patients around the world."

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