MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 6, 2026--
DemeRx, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to transforming addiction therapeutics, today announced the appointment of Juan R. Sanchez-Ramos, M.D., Ph.D., to its Scientific Advisory Board. A neurologist and clinician-scientist whose career has spanned addiction, movement disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases, Dr. Sanchez-Ramos was an early leader in the clinical investigation of ibogaine and a scientific collaborator of DemeRx founder and CEO Deborah C. Mash, Ph.D.
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“Juan and I were there at the beginning – traveling to the Netherlands to observe ibogaine treatment, working together to secure FDA authorization and then bringing the research into a clinical setting at Jackson Memorial Hospital,” said Dr. Mash. “At a time when few investigators were willing or able to work with a Schedule I compound, Juan brought the rigor of a neurologist and clinician-scientist to the field. His appointment to our Scientific Advisory Board brings our work full circle and adds invaluable scientific and clinical perspective as DemeRx advances DMX-1001 for the treatment of alcohol use disorder.”
In the early 1990s, Drs. Sanchez-Ramos and Mash lead an academic investigator-sponsored Phase 1 dose-ranging study of ibogaine at the University of Miami. Dr. Sanchez-Ramos served as the study’s clinical investigator and oversaw neurological evaluations in an initial cohort of nine participants. He advanced the use of posturography to assess balance and neurologic function to demonstrate the neurologic safety of ibogaine. The collaborators later published findings from their research and were named, with William Lee Hearn, as co-inventors on an early U.S. patent application covering the identification of its active metabolite of ibogaine for treating chemical dependency.
“Deborah and I recognized the scientific potential of ibogaine long before the field attracted mainstream attention,” said Dr. Sanchez-Ramos. “DemeRx has carried that early work forward by translating insights from ibogaine into DMX-1001, an investigational oral dose form of noribogaine. DMX-1001 also has potential for Parkinson’s disease and other neurologic disorders. I am honored to rejoin Deborah and contribute my experience in clinical neuroscience, movement disorders, and translational research as the company advances this program for people living with alcohol use disorder.”
Renewed federal attention to psychedelic research has brought the field to a pivotal moment. An April 2026 executive order called for accelerated research and appropriate regulatory pathways for psychedelic drugs, specifically including ibogaine compounds. The order also directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), to allocate at least $50 million to support state programs advancing psychedelic drugs for serious mental illnesses. ARPA-H’s EVIDENT initiative is designed to develop objective, FDA-ready clinical endpoints for rapid-acting behavioral health interventions, including neuroplastogens.
DemeRx is advancing DMX-1001 (oral noribogaine), an investigational neuroplastogen for alcohol use disorder (AUD). DemeRx has completed a Phase 1 multiple ascending dose clinical trial of DMX-1001, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the company’s Investigational New Drug application. The company plans to conduct an alcohol interaction study to support initiation of a Phase 2 clinical trial in people with AUD in 2027.
About Juan Sanchez-Ramos, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Sanchez-Ramos is Professor Emeritus of Neurology at the University of South Florida, where he previously held the Helen Ellis Endowed Chair and directed the Huntington’s Disease Society of America Center of Excellence. His research has addressed drug dependence, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, neural transplantation, stem cell biology, and novel approaches to gene therapy delivery. He also participated in the U.S.-Venezuela collaborative research project that contributed to the discovery of the Huntington’s disease gene.
Dr. Sanchez-Ramos earned a Ph.D. in pharmacology and physiology from the University of Chicago and an M.D. from the University of Illinois. He completed a neurology residency at the University of Chicago and a fellowship in movement disorders at the University of Miami.
About DemeRx Inc
DemeRx, Inc. is a pioneering clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to transforming addiction therapeutics and improving outcomes for individuals facing substance use disorders. Leveraging advanced scientific research and strategic clinical initiatives, DemeRx focuses on DMX-1001 (oral noribogaine) as a potential solution for alcohol use disorder. For more information, please visit www.demerx.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
Juan Sanchez-Ramos, M.D., Ph.D., Scientific Advisory Board, DemeRx, Inc.
PARIS (AP) — Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in cities across France on Tuesday in support of protests by school pupils demanding more education funding, increasing pressure on the government of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron.
As pupils again blockaded high schools, large crowds waving flags and placards gathered in Marseille, Strasbourg and other cities. The demonstrations showed how protests that began at a high school in the Paris region in mid-September have grown into a nationwide movement — the latest of many that have marked Macron’s nearly decade-long tenure.
“The only response they’ve received so far is repression,” Sigrid Gerardin, a Paris high school teacher, said of the pupils.
The Interior Ministry estimated that 86,000 people took part in demonstrations outside Paris on Tuesday morning. More were gathering in the capital for a protest scheduled for the afternoon.
More than two weeks of class boycotts and school blockades, and policing that has led to more than 6,100 arrests, mostly of minors, have become a flashpoint in the early days of the presidential election campaign.
Felix Barney, a university student, described the police response as disproportionate. “It doesn’t have any sense to hit minors,” he said.
The teenage protesters have struck a chord amid widespread discontent in France. Frustrations extend beyond immediate difficulties, such as fuel prices that have soared because of the Iran war, to broader concerns about constraints on public spending, rising poverty and wealth inequality under Macron, who cannot run for a third consecutive term.
Against that backdrop, pupils’ complaints that education funding shortfalls are endangering their futures have found a sympathetic audience.
“You say ‘young people are the future,’ so listen to them,” read a handwritten placard attached to a metal barrier outside a Paris school.
At the Hélène Boucher lycée, or high school, in Paris' 20th district, protesters tipped trash cans and bicycles on their sides to create a makeshift barricade.
Like hundreds of others around the country, the school was closed. Authorities began shutting schools last week to take some steam out of the demonstrations after widespread damage to schools and mounting injuries among staff, students and police. Classes were totally or partially suspended Tuesday at 891 schools, according to the Education Ministry.
Facing accusations that it was ignoring protesters, the ministry launched an online portal inviting high school students to anonymously describe the difficulties they face at school and the changes they want to see.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez on Tuesday defended policing methods used against high schoolers, despite a growing list of gruesome injuries blamed on officers' riot-control weapons. The latest was a 15-year-old boy who lost a hand on Monday in an incident involving a police stun grenade.
Nunez said the police response has been proportionate in “almost all cases.”
The widespread use of arrests, tear gas and riot-control weapons against teenagers is fueling defiance and angering some parents and teachers. Nunez said protests transformed at times into rioting, requiring police intervention. He said 715 officers have been injured.
At Hélène Boucher, parents and other adults positioned themselves Tuesday between protesters and police keeping watch.
“They are our children. Teachers, parents, federations, we all share the same goal: the protection of children’s rights, and it is a legitimate right to demonstrate and to make demands,” said Emilia Sichili Suriam, who is a member of an association of parents.
Demonstrators have voiced a range of grievances, often centering on a lack of resources and opportunities for students in disadvantaged schools despite the promise of France’s national motto: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.”
Students have drawn attention to rundown classrooms that lack basics such as desks and chairs, become sweltering in summer without air conditioning and, in some cases, are infested with rats. Other common complaints include staff shortages and exhausting workloads. French high school students’ compulsory classroom hours are among the highest in Europe.
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Associated Press journalists John Leicester in Paris and Mike Corder in The Hague contributed.
EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - Students block the entrance of a high school before a demonstration against under-resourced schools, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Protest slogans are posted on a school wall by high school students as they gather before a demonstration against under-resourced schools, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
High school students march during a protest against under-resourced schools, in Bordeaux, France, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Caroline Blumberg)
Riot police face high school students as they gather before a demonstration against under-resourced schools in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Riot police face high school students as they gather before a demonstration against under-resourced schools in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Riot police face high school students as they gather before a demonstration against under-resourced schools in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Students gather on the street before a demonstration against under-resourced schools, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Students hold a banner reading "Youth in anger" as they gather before a demonstration against under-resourced schools, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Students gather on the street before a demonstration against under-resourced schools, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
