Abide Therapeutics, Inc.

May 01, 2026 Benjamin Cravatt, the Gilula Chair of Chemical Biology and a professor of chemistry at Scripps Research, has been elected to the American Philosophical Society (APS), one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. Cravatt joins a distinguished cohort of members spanning disciplines across STEM and the humanities. The APS was founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin to bring together creative thinkers in the sciences and other fields of study for the purpose of “promoting useful knowledge.” According to the APS, only 5,896 members have been elected since the society’s founding, and today there are approximately 1,000 members. Last year, Scripps Research partnered with the APS to host events related to the Society’s annual General Meeting. Other notable members of the APS have included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin. Cravatt is the fourth scientist from Scripps Research to be elected. Across biomedicine, Cravatt has redefined how scientists study and target disease-relevant proteins. This includes developing activity-based protein profiling (ABPP): a method that captures the activity and drug interactions of proteins on a global scale, from cells to whole organisms. ABPP has enabled the discovery of inhibitors and drug candidates that have advanced to clinical trials for treating various conditions, ranging from neurodegeneration to different forms of cancer. Cravatt has also founded numerous biotech companies, including Activx Biosciences (acquired by Kyorin Pharmaceuticals), Abide Therapeutics (acquired by Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals) and Vividion Therapeutics (acquired by Bayer). Prior honors bestowed on Cravatt include election to the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, as well as the AACR Award for Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research, the ASBMB Merck Award, the Bristol Myers Squibb Award for Enzyme Chemistry, the Cope Scholar Award, the Eli Lilly Prize in Biological Chemistry, the Heinrich Wieland Prize, the Jeremy Knowles Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry, the R35 Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute, the Searle Scholar Award, the Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, the William H. Nichols Medal from the New York Local Section of the American Chemical Society and the Wolf Prize in Chemistry. For more information, contact press@scripps.edu See More News

San Diego biotechnology company Autobahn Therapeutics on Wednesday said it raised $100 million to advance an experimental mood disorder medicine into mid-stage testing.The company, which launched in 2020, is developing the drug for major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder depression.Called ABX-002, the drug works in a somewhat similar fashion to Madrigal Pharmaceuticals' Rezdiffra, by stimulating thyroid hormone receptors. Psychiatrists have used synthetic thyroid hormone off-label for years to treat depression, but the drugs arent approved for that use and come with the risk of cardiac side effects.In ABX-002, Autobahn is developing what it describes as a Trojan horse that can cross the blood-brain barrier, said Kevin Finney, the companys CEO.The company is studying the drug as an adjunctive therapy, meaning itll be tested together with other antidepressants. Finney said it could boost the effects of existing drugs at lower doses, avoiding some of the side effects that come with upping the dosage of antidepressants when they don't work.Autobahn's depression drug could be “particularly helpful“ with people who have atypical depression, symptoms of which include oversleeping, lack of energy and weight gain, Finney said.As drugmakers race to develop new kinds of antidepressants, Finney sees Autobahns work as part of a shift in how mood disorders are treated.“Candidly, I hope all of them are approved because there are so many unique patient subtypes that you need to have multiple therapies, Finney said.The company was co-founded by Tom Scanlan, a researcher at Oregon Health & Science University, and Keith Lenden, a venture partner at Arch Venture Partners. (Though the biotech shares its name with Germanys highway system, the name actually refers to the fictional band in The Big Lebowski, a favorite movie of one of Autobahns founders.)Autobahn started out focusing on central nervous system disorders such as multiple sclerosis and adrenomyeloneuropathy. Since then, the company has leaned into neuropsychiatry drugs, though it is still developing a S1P modulator for neuroinflammatory conditions that it plans to push into clinical testing next year. Several S1P modulators are approved to treat multiple sclerosis.Autobahn raised $125 million prior to the Series C funding round announced Wednesday, which was led by Newpath Partners. New investors included Canaan Partners, Monograph Capital, and Insight Partners, while Autobahns prior investors, among them Arch Venture Partners, Biogen, Pfizer Ventures and Bristol Myers Squibb, also joined.Finney, a former executive at Abide Therapeutics, said the company could seek additional private financing, a pharma partnership or an initial public offering to advance its drugs into Phase 3 studies.Psychiatry drugs have drawn more investment from pharma recently, with big buyouts of schizophrenia drugmakers Karuna Therapeutics and Cerevel Therapeutics two notable examples. The influx has raised optimism that new kinds of treatments for diseases like schizophrenia, depression and bipolar depression may be within reach.With depression rates reaching historic highs in recent years, there is an urgent need for new and better medicines that alleviate suffering and address the global depression crisis, said Thomas Cahill, the founder of Newpath Partners, in a statement. We look forward to working alongside the Autobahn team to help bring forward much-needed, effective therapies for people living with depression and other CNS disorders. '

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Actio Biosciences, Inc., a biotechnology company leveraging a novel platform approach to genetics and precision medicine to develop new therapeutics that target shared underlying biology in both rare and common diseases, today announced that Ben Cravatt, Ph.D., has joined the company’s board of directors. Dr. Cravatt is professor and Norton B. Gilula Chair of Chemical Biology in the Department of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute. His research group is interested in developing chemical proteomic technologies that enable protein and drug discovery on a global scale and applying these methods to characterize biochemical pathways that play important roles in human physiology and disease. “By combining genuine expertise across biology, chemistry and genetics, Ben has pioneered an approach to drug discovery and development that sits at the heart of Actio’s mission,” said David Goldstein, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Actio. “We are thrilled to welcome Ben to our board and look forward to working together to discover and develop new life-changing medicines.” “Years of research has taught us that the best targets are those supported by human genetics – and it is becoming clear that specific kinds of genetic information are especially informative,” said Dr. Cravatt. “Actio’s laser-focused approach targeting genes responsible for rare devastating diseases promises new treatments for those diseases and a powerful framework for rational expansion to more common indications sharing mechanistic biology.” In addition to his role at Scripps, Dr. Cravatt is a co-founder of Activx Biosciences (acquired by Kyorin Pharmaceuticals), Abide Therapeutics (acquired by Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals) and Vividion Therapeutics (acquired by Bayer AG). His honors include a Wolf Prize in Chemistry, a Searle Scholar Award, the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, a Cope Scholar Award, the ASBMB Merck Award, the Royal Society of Chemistry Jeremy Knowles Award, and memberships in the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Cravatt obtained his undergraduate education at Stanford University, receiving a B.S. in biological sciences and a B.A. in history. He received a Ph.D. from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in 1996 and joined the faculty at TSRI in 1997. About Actio Biosciences Actio Biosciences is leveraging advances in precision medicine to develop new therapeutics that target shared genetics in rare and common diseases—bringing meaningful medicines from one to many. Applying its expertise in genetics, drug discovery and data sciences, Actio seeks to identify programs where both biological and technical risk can be minimized to streamline the drug development process and bring forward exceptionally potent and precisely targeted therapeutics. Founded in October 2021, the San Diego-based company is led by leaders in genetics and drug development and backed by top healthcare investors. For more information, please visit ActioBiosciences.com.