Rafias, founded in 2021, was created to address one of the most urgent unmet needs in addiction medicine: relapse during abstinence. Despite millions affected and rising stimulant use worldwide, no FDA-approved medications exist for stimulant addiction. Treatment remains dependent on behavioral interventions with high relapse rates and substantial economic burden.

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Drawing on breakthrough discoveries from the Heller Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, Rafias is developing the first therapeutic approach that strengthens the brain’s natural recovery pathways. Our work combines neuroscience, epigenetics, and chemistry to build a new class of targeted, abstinence-phase pharmacologic treatments.