Helus Pharma has appointed Regina Donohue as Chief People Officer and Suresh Durgam, M.D., to its Scientific Advisory Board, moves aimed at strengthening the company’s commercial readiness as it advances its drug pipeline.
Donohue brings experience scaling human resources infrastructure at biopharmaceutical firms, including Intra-Cellular Therapies, where she helped grow the workforce to more than 1,000 employees during its transition from clinical to commercial operations. Prior to Intra-Cellular, she established the HR function for LEO Pharma’s U.S. subsidiary. Intra-Cellular was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in April 2025.
Durgam, a former Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Intra-Cellular, joins Helus Pharma’s Scientific Advisory Board. His tenure included overseeing clinical development and regulatory approvals for CAPLYTA across multiple indications, including schizophrenia, bipolar depression, and adjunctive major depressive disorder. He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and 200 abstracts and posters.
Helus Pharma’s pipeline includes HLP003, a serotonergic agonist in Phase 3 trials for adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder with FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation, and HLP004, in Phase 2 development for generalized anxiety disorder. The company stated the appointments support preparation for potential commercialization of its programs.
Helus Pharma trades under NASDAQ: HELP and Cboe CA: HELP, with operations based in New York and Toronto.
