What MapLight Therapeutics does

MapLight Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for central nervous system disorders using a proprietary discovery platform that integrates optogenetics, transcriptomics, and STARmap spatial transcriptomics to identify disease-linked neural circuits and generate circuit-targeted drug candidates. The platform was founded by Karl Deisseroth, the creator of optogenetics, together with Robert Malenka and Christopher Kroeger, and feeds a pipeline led by ML-007C-MA, an M1/M4 muscarinic agonist in Phase 2 development for schizophrenia (ZEPHYR trial, 307 participants) and Alzheimer's disease psychosis (VISTA trial, 300 participants; FDA Fast Track designation granted January 2026), and ML-004, which was studied in the Phase 2 IRIS trial for autism spectrum disorder and missed its primary endpoint but showed an effect size of 1.33 in a prespecified adolescent irritability subgroup. Preclinical programs target Parkinson's disease, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

The company is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, completed its initial public offering on Nasdaq under the ticker MPLT in October 2025, and as of end-2025 reported $453.1 million in cash and securities with quarterly net losses of approximately $79.5 million and R&D spending of $138.3 million. Capital sources include a $225 million Series C (October 2023, led by Novo Holdings), a $372.5 million Series D (July 2025, led by Forbion and Goldman Sachs Alternatives with Sanofi and T. Rowe Price participating), and the $296.3 million IPO; a December 2025 collaboration with SandboxAQ adds up to $200 million in milestone-eligible AI-driven CNS drug discovery support. Market capitalization was approximately $1.3 billion as of mid-2026.

Because MapLight has no approved products, its revenue model is licensing/royalty-oriented in design but currently non-revenue-generating: patients access investigational therapies exclusively through sponsored clinical trials, commercialization pathways are still under development, and a SandboxAQ collaboration provides the only contracted counterparty economics. The go-to-market approach remains pre-commercial, with primary demand-generation activity consisting of investor relations, healthcare conference participation, and clinical-trial patient recruitment through the company website and ClinicalTrials.gov listings.

Name

MapLight Therapeutics

Legal name

MapLight Therapeutics, Inc.

Website

https://maplightrx.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Ipo

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

MapLight Therapeutics is a publicly traded clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that uses a proprietary optogenetics, transcriptomics, and STARmap discovery platform to develop circuit-targeted CNS therapeutics, with lead candidate ML-007C-MA in Phase 2 trials for schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease psychosis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

CNS Therapeutics

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Neurology & CNS Specialty Pharmaceuticals (HLAIACAC)

Keywords

• CNS drug discovery
• Muscarinic receptor agonists
• Schizophrenia therapeutics
• Alzheimer's psychosis treatment
• Autism spectrum disorder drugs

Headquarters

HQ city

Palo Alto

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Not yet revenue-generating: MapLight is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with no commercially approved products. As of end-2025, it held $453.1 million in cash and reported quarterly net losses of approximately $79.5 million with R&D spending of $138.3 million. The company funds operations through equity capital (Series C $225M in 2023, Series D $372.5M in 2025, IPO $296.3M in October 2025) and a strategic collaboration with SandboxAQ worth up to $200 million in milestones.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

MapLight Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing circuit-targeted therapeutics for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Its proprietary discovery platform integrates optogenetics, transcriptomics, and STARmap spatial transcriptomics to identify neural circuits causally linked to diseases and discover novel therapeutic targets. The company's lead clinical asset ML-007C-MA (M1/M4 muscarinic agonist) is in Phase 2 trials for schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease psychosis, with ML-004 in Phase 2 for autism spectrum disorder and additional preclinical candidates for Parkinson's disease, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

Product overview

MapLight Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company offering a single integrated platform-and-pipeline architecture rather than a modular software product suite. Its offering centers on the proprietary MapLight Discovery Platform — combining Optogenetics, Transcriptomics, and STARmap — which identifies disease-linked neural circuits and feeds a portfolio of targeted CNS therapeutic candidates. The flagship outputs of the platform are the lead candidate ML-007C-MA (a muscarinic M1/M4 agonist advancing in Phase 2 for schizophrenia via the ZEPHYR trial and for Alzheimer's disease psychosis via the VISTA trial, with FDA Fast Track designation for the ADP indication), the ML-004 candidate for Autism Spectrum Disorder being studied in the Phase 2 IRIS trial, and a preclinical pipeline targeting Parkinson's disease, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. All candidates are internally discovered and developed, with the platform serving as the unified engine that connects circuit-level neuroscience insight to clinical asset generation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MapLight Discovery Platform A multi-pronged discovery platform combining three proprietary technologies — Optogenetics (real-time activation and inhibition of neural circuits), Transcriptomics (gene expression profiling of cell types to identify therapeutic targets), and STARmap (spatial transcriptomics for visualizing drug targets in intact brain tissue) — to identify neural circuits causally linked to CNS diseases and drive the development of targeted therapies.
• ML-007C-MA MapLight's lead muscarinic agonist candidate targeting M1 and M4 muscarinic receptors without directly blocking dopaminergic receptors, designed to address positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia and hallucinations and delusions of Alzheimer's disease psychosis. In Phase 2 ZEPHYR trial for schizophrenia (307 participants) and Phase 2 VISTA trial for Alzheimer's disease psychosis (300 participants); received FDA Fast Track designation for Alzheimer's disease psychosis in January 2026.
• ML-004 MapLight's clinical compound for Autism Spectrum Disorder, evaluated in the Phase 2 IRIS trial (randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled) to assess impact on social communication deficits and associated irritability in up to 150 adults and adolescents (ages 12–45) with ASD. Conducted in the United States, Australia, and Canada; fully funded by MapLight. The Phase 2 IRIS trial missed its primary endpoint on social communication deficits but showed clinically meaningful improvement (effect size 1.33 on ABC-I, nominal p=0.013) in prespecified adolescent subgroup with moderate-to-severe baseline irritability.
• MapLight Preclinical Pipeline Preclinical compounds in MapLight's pipeline for the potential treatment of Parkinson's disease, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, derived from the discovery platform's circuit-targeted approach. The company expanded its pipeline in 2026 with a new candidate expected to reach preclinical stages.

Quantifiable outcome

• ML-007C-MA projected peak sales of approximately $1 billion across multiple indications per Jefferies analyst
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SandboxAQcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 December 2025Strategic collaboration to discover and develop first-in-class therapies for central nervous system disorders, focusing on a novel G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) target. SandboxAQ received an upfront payment and is eligible for additional milestone payments totaling up to $200 million, while MapLight retains exclusive rights for clinical development and commercialization of any resulting compounds. SandboxAQ will leverage its AI platform AQBioSim to simulate and predict molecular interactions to accelerate the drug discovery process.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Karuna Therapeutics (Bristol-Myers Squibb): Acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb for $14B in 2024, Karuna developed Cobenfy (xanomeline/trospium), the first FDA-approved muscarinic M1/M4 agonist for schizophrenia — the same mechanism and indication space as MapLight's lead candidate ML-007C-MA. It is the single most directly comparable reference point for MapLight's lead asset.
• Intra-Cellular Therapies: Commercial-stage CNS specialty biopharma whose lead product Caplyta (lumateperone) is approved for schizophrenia and bipolar depression. Comparable because it operates in the same psychiatry indications MapLight is targeting and validates the commercial CNS specialty model.
• Acadia Pharmaceuticals: CNS specialty biopharma with Nuplazid (pimavanserin) approved for Parkinson's disease psychosis. Directly comparable because it operates in the same psychosis indication space MapLight is pursuing with ML-007C-MA's Alzheimer's disease psychosis program; MapLight's current CMO Erin Foff was previously at Acadia.
• Cerevel Therapeutics (AbbVie): CNS-focused clinical-stage biopharma acquired by AbbVie for $8.7B in 2024, with assets in schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. Comparable as a clinical-stage CNS company targeting muscarinic and dopaminergic mechanisms in the same schizophrenia space.
• Neumora Therapeutics: Public clinical-stage biopharma developing precision medicines for brain diseases, with multiple programs in schizophrenia and major depressive disorder. Comparable as a similarly sized, public, clinical-stage CNS biopharma with a multi-program pipeline.
• Sage Therapeutics: CNS-focused biopharma with Zurzuvae (zuranolone) approved for postpartum depression, and pipeline assets in major depressive disorder. Comparable because it is a CNS specialty biopharma pursuing novel mechanisms in psychiatric indications adjacent to MapLight's schizophrenia and autism programs.
• Axsome Therapeutics: CNS-focused biopharma with Auvelity approved for major depressive disorder. Comparable as a commercial-stage CNS specialty company targeting neuropsychiatric indications with novel mechanisms, often cited alongside MapLight as a benchmark for the CNS specialty model.
• Praxis Precision Medicines: Clinical-stage biopharma developing therapies for CNS disorders including epilepsy and other neurological conditions. Comparable as a similarly scaled, clinical-stage CNS company advancing multiple neurology and psychiatry programs through Phase 2.
• Alto Neuroscience: Clinical-stage biopharma using data-driven patient stratification to develop precision psychiatry therapeutics. Comparable as a clinical-stage CNS company pursuing novel mechanism therapies in depression and other psychiatric indications overlapping with MapLight's pipeline.

Emerging players

• BlackThorn Therapeutics: Clinical-stage CNS biopharma using computational approaches to develop targeted therapies for neurobehavioral disorders. Comparable because of the overlap in computational/circuit-based approaches to CNS drug discovery, even though it is smaller and earlier-stage than MapLight.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/maplight-therapeutics-inc
• Xx.com/Maplightrx

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors10 records

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MapLight Therapeutics