Bexorg Appoints Bruce Car as CSO and Michael Fenn as CBO, Strengthening Leadership for AI-Driven Precision Neurology Platform
核心洞察
Bexorg (搜索) appointed Bruce Car, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer and Michael Fenn, Ph.D., as Chief Business Officer to advance its precision neurology platform.
Dr. Car brings over 30 years of drug discovery experience, contributing to more than 20 drug approvals and 250 drug candidates across his career.
BHV-8100 (搜索), the first drug whose human brain pharmacology was characterized by Bexorg (搜索)'s platform before first-in-human dosing, is now in a Phase 1 clinical trial.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Bexorg (搜索), Inc., a privately held company pioneering a precision neurology approach to CNS drug discovery, announced the appointments of Bruce Car, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer and Michael Fenn, Ph.D., as Chief Business Officer. The dual leadership expansion positions the company to accelerate its integrated AI and whole-human brain platform as it advances therapeutic assets across neurodegenerative and other CNS diseases.
The appointments come as Bexorg (搜索)'s platform gains validation through BHV-8100 (搜索), a novel therapeutic now in a Phase 1 clinical trial. BHV-8100 represents the first drug whose human brain pharmacology was characterized by Bexorg's platform before first-in-human dosing, developed through a collaboration with Biohaven (搜索), where Dr. Car previously served as CSO.
Leadership with Deep Drug Development Expertise
Dr. Car brings more than 30 years of drug discovery experience to Bexorg (搜索). Throughout his career, he has helped advance more than 250 drug candidates and contributed to the approval of over 20 drug registrations. During his 25-year tenure at Bristol Myers Squibb and its predecessor companies, Dr. Car held leadership positions spanning all therapeutic areas and drug platforms, including serving as the first head of BMS Translational Medicine. Prior to joining Bexorg, he served as CSO at Biohaven (搜索) and, before that, as CSO at Agios Pharmaceuticals, where he led research across oncology and genetically defined diseases.
"My confidence in the BrainEx platform comes directly from collaborating with the company on development strategy, including clinical endpoint design ahead of Phase 1 initiation for BHV-8100 (搜索)," said Dr. Car. "Bexorg (搜索) has built a truly differentiated approach to understanding human brain biology, creating an opportunity to unlock insights that could meaningfully improve how CNS therapies are discovered and developed."
Dr. Fenn joins Bexorg (搜索) from Iaso Ventures, where he led CNS-focused investments as a venture partner, including backing Neurona Therapeutics ahead of its acquisition by UCB for up to $1.15 billion. He brings over a decade of experience in asset licensing, partnerships, corporate development, and company building as an operator, founder, and investor.
"Bexorg (搜索) has built something the field has been missing — the ability to see human brain pharmacology before a molecule ever reaches a patient," said Dr. Fenn. "From a business development and asset strategy standpoint, that changes what is possible: it lets us select, license, and partner CNS programs based on evidence the industry has never before possessed."
A Platform Built to Address CNS Trial Failures
Bexorg (搜索)'s platform is built around two core components: BrainEx, a breakthrough technology that restores molecular and cellular activity in donated whole-human brains by perfusing them with artificial blood to maintain metabolic activity for extended periods, and XO Digital, a closed-loop AI system that transforms human brain datasets into predictive intelligence for target engagement, biomarkers, pharmacokinetics, and patient stratification.
The company is targeting the devastating 95%+ failure rate of CNS clinical trials by generating clinically predictive human data before drugs reach patients. Vlad Coric, M.D., CEO of Biohaven (搜索), noted: "BrainEx gave us the confidence to advance two CNS drug programs, showing target engagement and brain exposure in human tissue — a true fast-forward for drug development."
Zvonimir Vrselja, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Bexorg (搜索), emphasized the strategic significance of the appointments: "Together with the recent additions, this newly matured leadership team gives Bexorg a real competitive advantage in the hardest area of drug development, and positions us to lead the next era of CNS drug discovery."
Scientific Foundation and Partnerships
Founded by Dr. Zvonimir Vrselja and Dr. Nenad Sestan at Yale University, Bexorg (搜索) maintains whole human brain tissue so drug candidates can be characterized in human CNS biology before they reach patients. The company has raised over $42.5 million to scale its platform and has established collaborations with Biohaven (搜索) and received grants from the Michael J. Fox Foundation. The company operates under a rigorous legal framework and bioethics standards, guided by an independent board of experts.
The platform enables real testing of small molecules, biologics, viral vectors, LNPs, and other modalities directly in human brain tissue, bridging the translational gap between animal and in vitro models and actual human brain biology. This capability is particularly relevant for pharmaceutical companies and biotech firms developing therapies for Alzheimer's disease (搜索), Parkinson's disease (搜索), depression (搜索), epilepsy (搜索), and other CNS disorders.