About us

Our story

2014

Lykos Therapeutics was founded

Our roots

In 2014 Lykos Therapeutics (formerly MAPS Public Benefit Company) was founded to create an organization that could bring novel psychedelic-assisted therapies to market and integrate them into the healthcare system. We were incubated by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and educational organization, to develop investigational midomafetamine (MDMA) capsules in combination with psychological intervention (MDMA-assisted therapy) in adults with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

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Our role

Our vision is to transform mental healthcare. We are committed to bringing new treatments to patients by seeking regulatory approval of psychedelic-assisted therapies. We are developing a full-scale commercial organization that is experienced and passionate about the opportunity to introduce novel treatments into the healthcare system.

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Our work

Innovation in mental healthcare is urgently needed. In fact, there have been no new drug treatments approved by the FDA for PTSD in over twenty years.¹ We are proud of the progress we have made to advance the MDMA-assisted therapy development program for PTSD and build a first-class development and commercial organization with deep industry and mental healthcare experience.

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Our identity

Originally founded by MAPS, our company was named MAPS Public Benefit Company (PBC), but as our company evolved, we changed our name to Lykos Therapeutics in January 2024. Lykos, or wolf in Greek, represents the qualities – bravery, courage, loyalty and intelligence – that resonate with our company. Our visual identity represents the overlap of innovative science combined with a focus on the whole person.

Our future

This is an exciting time in the field of psychedelic medicine, and we take our role seriously as leaders and innovators in this space. We aim to have positive impact on society and seek to redefine what it means to be a public benefit company in the pharmaceutical space. Our primary focus today is seeking regulatory approval for investigational MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, but we intend to explore other indications in the future. We also plan to expand our presence globally, and collaborate with those who share our passion for psychedelic medicine.

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1. Stein MB, Rothbaum BO. 175 Years of Progress in PTSD Therapeutics: Learning From the Past. Am J Psychiatry. 2018 Jun 1;175(6):508-516. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17080955. PMID: 29869547.