Aptinyx Promotes David Houck to Chief Development Officer

EVANSTON, Ill., May 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Aptinyx Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing transformative therapies for challenging neurologic disorders, today announced that David R. Houck, Ph.D. has been promoted to chief development officer. Dr. Houck has been vice president of drug development operations at Aptinyx since the company's inception in 2015, when it was spun out from its predecessor company, Naurex, as part of a transaction with Allergan.

"David's extensive expertise and knowledge of Aptinyx's pipeline of NMDA receptor modulators for various neurologic disorders have been critical to our success. He leads our regulatory and CMC efforts from IND to late-stage development and commercialization – an orientation that sets us up for success today and in the future," said Norbert Riedel, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Aptinyx.

Dr. Houck has over 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in drug discovery, product development, manufacturing, and quality control of new chemical entities. Prior to Aptinyx, he was vice president of drug development and quality at Naurex. In addition, Dr. Houck was chief executive officer at Pharmakey LLC, a provider of regulatory, CMC, preclinical, and translational medicine services to biopharmaceutical companies. Previously, he held senior positions at Merck, Sterling Winthrop, Sanofi, OSI Pharmaceuticals, and Scynexis. Dr. Houck received a B.S. from Alma College, an M.S. from Purdue University, a Ph.D. in chemistry from Ohio State University, and served as a postdoctoral fellow in the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

About Aptinyx
Aptinyx Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing transformative therapies for challenging disorders of the brain and nervous system. Aptinyx has a proven platform for discovery of novel compounds that work through a unique mechanism to modulate – rather than block or over-activate – NMDA receptors and enhance synaptic plasticity, the foundation of neural cell communication. Drugs that modulate NMDA receptors in this distinct way have both robust efficacy and favorable safety. The company's lead drug candidate, NYX-2925, is in Phase 2 clinical development as a therapy for neuropathic pain and its second drug candidate, NYX-783, is in Phase 1 clinical development for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Both programs have received Fast Track designation by the FDA. Aptinyx is also advancing additional compounds from its proprietary chemistry platform, which continues to generate a rich and diverse pipeline of small-molecule NMDA receptor modulators with the potential to treat an array of neurologic disorders. For more information, visit www.aptinyx.com.

SOURCE Aptinyx Inc.