Helus Pharma names ex-Intra-Cellular CMO Suresh Durgam to its board

Helus Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: HELP; Cboe CA: HELP) said on October 15, 2026 that it had appointed Suresh Durgam, M.D. to its Board of Directors. Dr. Durgam previously served on the Company's Scientific Advisory Board.¹

The company said Dr. Durgam is a CNS drug-development executive with more than two decades of experience spanning clinical development, medical affairs, regulatory strategy and pharmacovigilance.¹ He most recently held the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc., a company that, Helus Pharma noted, was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in April 2025.¹ At Intra-Cellular, the release said his duties touched clinical operations, safety, and regulatory functions, and he played a pivotal role in securing FDA approvals for "CAPLYTA® (lumateperone)" across multiple indications, including schizophrenia, bipolar depression, as both a monotherapy and adjunctive therapy, and adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder.¹

Earlier in his career, Dr. Durgam held senior clinical-development leadership roles at Allergan, Forest Laboratories and Solvay Pharmaceuticals, working on programs for major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders, with development experience including lumateperone, cariprazine, vilazodone and levomilnacipran.¹

Helus Pharma described itself as a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing proprietary NSAs, synthetic molecules designed to activate serotonin pathways believed to promote neuroplasticity.¹ The company said it is developing HLP003, a proprietary NSA, in Phase 3 clinical development for adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder, which has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA, along with HLP004, another NSA in Phase 2 for generalized anxiety disorder.¹

The filing stated Dr. Durgam's board appointment is subject to approval of Cboe Canada.¹