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Executive Officers

Vimal Mehta, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer & Founder

Dr. Vimal Mehta is the Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors…

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Richard I. Steinhart

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Steinhart brings significant financial and strategic experience in the biotechnology and medical…

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Frank D. Yocca, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Yocca is an accomplished R&D executive and scientist with extensive experience leading global biopharmaceutical companies…
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Javier Rodriguez

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary

Mr. Rodriguez has over 20 years of extensive strategic and legal  experience within the biopharmaceutical…

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IGALMI is a registered trademark of BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. 
All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.
Copyright © 2025 BioXcel Therapeutics Inc. All Rights Reserved. US-IGA-2300177

IGALMI is a registered trademark of BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc.
All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.
Copyright © 2025 BioXcel Therapeutics Inc. All Rights Reserved. US-IGA-2300177

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Vimal Mehta, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer & Founder

Dr. Vimal Mehta is the Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors of BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: BTAI), a biopharmaceutical company utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) approaches to develop transformative medicines in neuroscience and immuno-oncology. He has more than 25 years of leadership in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Dr. Mehta successfully built and led innovative drug discovery and development companies that have helped bring novel therapies to market to address major unmet medical needs and positively impact the lives of patients, caregivers, and clinicians.

In 2006, Dr. Mehta co-founded BioXcel LLC, which pioneered the application of big data analytics and machine learning-based AI integrated with drug-development expertise. In 2017, he co-founded BioXcel Therapeutics as a spinout and led the company’s Initial Public Offering in 2018. He has now raised approximately $500 million in capital to support the company’s R&D and commercial efforts. Through his leadership, BioXcel Therapeutics has built a unique AI-based drug discovery and development capability and advanced from first-in-human clinical trials to FDA approval of IGALMI™ and commercial launch in under four years. Developed as BXCL501, IGALMI™ is a proprietary, sublingual film formulation of dexmedetomidine approved for the acute treatment of agitation associated with schizophrenia or bipolar I or II disorder in adults.

In 2022, Dr. Mehta led strategic financing agreements of $260 million with Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. and Qatar Investment Authority to support the company’s commercial activities for IGALMI, expand clinical development of BXCL501 — including a pivotal Phase 3 program for acute agitation in patients with Alzheimer’s disease as well as the at-home use of BXCL501 for acute agitation in bipolar and schizophrenia patients — and advance additional neuroscience and immuno-oncology clinical programs. He also led the formation of OnkosXcel Therapeutics as a subsidiary of BioXcel Therapeutics to develop transformative medicines in oncology.

Dr. Mehta has been recognized for healthcare leadership, including New Haven Biz naming him in its “Power 25 Healthcare 2022” list of leaders for “making strides developing treatments for cancer and agitation in people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.” Also in 2022, the Healthcare Technology Report ranked Dr. Mehta among the top 25 healthcare technology leaders in Connecticut. In addition, BioXcel Therapeutics was named Therapeutics Company of the Year for 2022 in the annual BioTech Breakthrough Awards, while the Hartford Business Journal recognized the company among area “healthcare heroes.”

In addition to his roles at BioXcel Therapeutics, Dr. Mehta is Chairman of the Board and CEO of BioXcel LLC and serves on the Board of several other companies. Earlier in his career, he worked for several leading pharmaceutical companies in senior-level business-development capacities. He was also Assistant Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, USA. 

Dr. Mehta holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Delhi, India and completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in chemistry at the University of Montpellier, France.

Richard Steinhart

Richard I. Steinhart

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Richard Steinhart brings significant financial and strategic experience in the biotechnology and medical device industries. Prior to joining BioXcel Therapeutics, Richard served as Vice President and CFO at Remedy Pharmaceuticals, Inc., until it sold its only asset, CIRARA, to Biogen for $120M plus earn-outs. Prior to joining Remedy Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Steinhart served as an independent consultant to biotechnology and medical device companies. Previously, he was the Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of MELA Sciences. 

Prior to joining MELA Sciences, Mr. Steinhart held a variety of senior-level positions at Forest Street Capital/SAE Ventures, a boutique investment banking, venture capital, and management consulting firm focused on healthcare and technology companies, Emisphere Technologies, Inc., and CW Group, Inc., a venture capital firm focused on medical technology. He began his career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Mr. Steinhart is a member of the Board of Directors of Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Atossa Genetics, Inc. He holds B.B.A. and M.B.A. degrees from Pace University and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).

Frank Yocca

Frank D. Yocca, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Frank Yocca is an accomplished R&D executive and scientist with extensive experience leading global biopharmaceutical companies. He has wide-ranging expertise in leading high-performing, world-class teams in drug discovery and development whose efforts have resulted in a number of prominent neuroscience products including Buspar®, Serzone®, Abilify®, and Heltioz®. Dr. Yocca has held leadership roles at AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb. He is a recognized scientific leader in the neuroscience community, a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science, and a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He has 45 referred articles, 96 abstracts, and 65 invited presentations. In 2023, the Healthcare Technology Report listed him among the top healthcare technology leaders of Connecticut. 

Dr. Yocca holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from Manhattan College, as well as an M.S. in Pharmacology and a Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology from St. John’s University.

Rodriguez_Javier

Javier Rodriguez

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary

Javier Rodriguez has over 20 years of extensive strategic and legal experience within the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining BioXcel Therapeutics, he served as Chief Legal Officer at Indivior PLC, where he oversaw legal affairs, data privacy compliance and corporate governance matters for the company, which has operations in over 40 countries. Prior to joining Indivior, he held roles of increasing responsibility at Reckitt Benckiser LLC, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Berlex, Inc. Mr. Rodriguez began his legal career as a litigation associate at Thelen Reid Priest, LLP in New York City.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University, a Master of Science degree from the University of Michigan, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania.

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