About Us
Zena Therapeutics is a drug discovery company, spun-out of Rutgers University, designing new medications for mental health and addiction by improving safety profiles. Currently the work at Zena focuses on acute anxiolytic compounds that do not increase the risk of overdose if taken concomitantly with other central nervous system depressing substances such as opioids and alcohol.
Our novel compound has shown, via preliminary studies, favorable pharmacokinetics, robust anxiolytic activity (in rats) and favorable safety characteristics. The commercialization of this compound will not only help individuals with general anxiety and panic disorders but also those suffering from withdrawal induced-anxiety (namely from opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder) who otherwise would not be candidates for other fast acting anxiolytics, due to the risk of overdose. Our overall mission is to ensure that the consequence for the misuse of medications is never death.
Dr. Carry is the founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Zena Therapeutics who through her passion to address the overdose dangers of pharmaceuticals, created the innovation that is now the foundation of Zena.
Her determination to improve the design and development of current mental heath and addiction pharmacotherapies stems from her own experience overcoming addiction. Dr. Carry’s firsthand experience provides her a unique perspective and advantage in addressing gaps that may have once been overlooked. She feels grateful to have found recovery, and is committed to using this experience, coupled with her love for medicinal chemistry, to enable others to do the same. Her commitment to the development of safe pharmacotherapies for GABAA receptor-mediated addictions led to the discovery of the novel compounds that were the basis for Zena’s lead molecule. Dr. Carry is acutely aware that people are dying every day from overdose fatalities, people just like her, who are just as deserving and capable of recovery.
Dr. Ariane Vasilatis is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zena Therapeutics, and helped start Zena with the mindset that the gap in the design of mental health and addiction medications, if addressed correctly, could save countless lives.
She has a background in natural products chemistry and applying plant derived products for human health. During her dissertation studies she met Dr. Carry and became greatly interested in her work, having had experience watching family members and friends battle substance abuse. Dr. Vasilatis decided to join Zena seeing firsthand the gap in drug design that could be addressed— a commonality she and Dr. Carry share. Dr. Vasilatis has helped the fledgling company earn over $1.3M in funding, including a Phase I STTR grant from NIDA, funding from NJEDA, and a seed investment from Foundation Venture Capital Group. She uses her entrepreneurial skills developed from programs such as the NSF I-Corps and Yale’s Innovation to Impact, to help guide the commercialization of Zena’s innovation and ensure it gets into the hands of those most in need.
