Jens Wendland
Chief Medical Officer Kynexis Therapeutics
Dr. Jens R. Wendland is the chief medical officer at Kynexis and is based in Boston, MA. He was trained as a physician in Germany. Following an internship in adult psychiatry, he worked as a post-doctoral fellow with Drs. Dennis Murphy and Francis McMahon at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD, on the genetics of psychiatric disorders. Before Kynexis, Jens held various pharmaceutical industry positions of increasing responsibility at Roche, Pfizer, Nestlé Health Science, and Takeda. His focus is on neuroscience, rare diseases, drug development, and translational medicine, with particular emphasis on using human genetics to identify compelling drug targets and responder sub-populations.
Seminars
- How KYN 5356, a first in class KAT II inhibitor, targets the kynurenine pathway to address CIAS, a major unmet driver of disability in schizophrenia
- Phase 1 results demonstrating excellent safety, tolerability, and robust CNS penetration with favorable plasma and CSF pharmacokinetics
- Evidence of target engagement through dose dependent reductions in CSF kynurenic acid and EEG improvements linked to cognitive pathways
- Early signals of cognitive improvement supporting progression to Phase 2 trials in CIAS and broader precision medicine applications
