Biopharmaceutical company Travecta Therapeutics revealed on Monday that its scientific advisory board has appointed Jerold Chun, MD, PhD, who help lead the company toward its first human trial for a non-opioid pain therapeutic.

Dr Chun is a neuroscientist who has over 30 years experience in CNS research and drug discovery, including in multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease.

Currently, Dr Chun is Professor and Senior Vice President of Neuroscience Drug Discovery at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Institute and is an adjunct professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Departments of Pharmacology and Neurosciences.

Travecta added that it recently raised USD27m in a series A financing round, which will assist the company to advance the development of its lead non-opioid product targeting chronic pain, TVT-004. The company's mVECTATM platform technology is unlocking key biological targets in neurological diseases that were previously difficult to engage because of the blood-brain barrier. The platform has achieved targeting of a broad range of product candidates across the blood-brain-barrier with proven efficacy against pharmacological targets.