Atai Life Sciences Appoints Gerd Kochendoerfer As COO; Srinivas Rao Assumes Sole CEO Role

ATAI Life Sciences

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(RTTNews) - Biopharmaceutical company atai Life Sciences N.V. (ATAI) announced Friday key leadership appointments to advance its goal of delivering novel mental health therapeutics.

Srinivas Rao has assumed the role of sole Chief Executive Officer (CEO), joined by the promotions of Kevin Craig to Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Glenn Short to Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) and the appointment of Gerd Kochendoerfer as Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Co-Founder Rao was promoted to Co-CEO effective June 1, 2024, and assumed the role of CEO on January 1, 2025. Rao has over 24 years of diverse biotechnology and pharmaceutical experience, having held the titles of Chief Scientific, Medical, and Executive Officer at companies ranging from venture-backed startups to vertically integrated, publicly traded pharmaceutical companies.

Craig has been named CMO to head clinical development for VLS-01 (buccal film DMT) and EMP-01 (R-MDMA). He served as atai's Senior Vice President of Clinical Development since July 2023 and he leads the entirety of atai's clinical-stage research & development effort, clinical development, patient safety, clinical operations, regulatory affairs, biostatistics and all other clinical functions. He has been a member of atai's leadership team since 2021. Prior to joining atai, he was Head of Early Clinical Development at Jazz Pharmaceuticals.

Short has been named CSO to lead atai's research programs including discovery, nonclinical pharmacology, preclinical development and Chemistry, Manufacturing & Controls and to advance internally discovered, novel 5-HT2AR agonists with non-hallucinogenic potential. He has served as Senior Vice President of Early Development since August 2022 and has been a member of atai's leadership team since 2019. He has over 20 years of industry and research experience.

Kochendoerfer was appointed COO to foster strategic alignment and operational excellence as the company progresses its key clinical programs. He has more than 25 years of experience in leadership roles across the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. Prior to joining atai, he was COO at NFlection Therapeutics, Inc. and Senior VP and Head of Operations at PellePharm Inc., a BridgeBio company. He also held leadership positions at Depomed Inc., FibroGen Inc., and Gryphon Therapeutics, Inc.