Vistagen, a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing intranasal product candidates for neuropsychiatric disorders, announced the appointment of Angel S. Angelov, MD, MBA, as Chief Medical Officer (CMO), effective May 18, 2026. Shawn Singh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vistagen, stated that Dr. Angelov’s “two decades of leadership across clinical development and medical affairs, including roles at Karuna, Neurocrine, Novartis, and Teva, will be instrumental as we work to improve suboptimal standards of care in our targeted therapeutic areas.”
Dr. Angelov most recently served as CMO at Theranica, a neuromodulation therapeutics company. Previously, he held the position of Managing Director at ANG Holding, Vice President and Head of Medical Affairs at Karuna Therapeutics (now a wholly owned subsidiary of Bristol Myers Squibb), and Vice President and Clinical Leader for the VMAT-2 Franchise and Head of Medical Affairs at Neurocrine Biosciences. He has also held clinical development and medical affairs positions at CollaGenex, Indivior, Novartis, NuPathe, and Teva, as well as faculty positions at Thomas Jefferson University and Temple University. Dr. Angelov earned his M.D. from Sofia Medical University and completed his residency and fellowship training at Thomas Jefferson University. He also earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Angelov is Board Certified in Psychiatry, a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and holds an active Pennsylvania medical license.
Vistagen develops a new class of intranasal product candidates called pherines designed to achieve therapeutic benefits without requiring absorption into the blood or uptake into the brain. The company’s most advanced pherine product candidates are fasedienol in U.S. Phase 3 development for the acute treatment of social anxiety disorder, itruvone for treatment of major depressive disorder, and refisolone for treatment of vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes) due to menopause. Dr. Angelov expressed enthusiasm about joining the company, saying: “Vistagen’s pioneering work with neurocircuitry-focused pherines represents a compelling opportunity to reshape how we approach patient care. I look forward to contributing to Vistagen’s mission to deliver transformative treatments and improve lives.”
The Compensation Committee of Vistagen’s Board granted Dr. Angelov an incentive option to purchase up to 150,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.5955 per share. The option will vest as to 25% of the shares on the one-year anniversary of its grant, with the remainder vesting ratably on a monthly basis over 36 months thereafter.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.biospace.com/press-releases/vistagen-appoints-angel-s-angelov-md-mba-as-chief-medical-officer