aibioEnsysce director Curtis Rosebraugh resigns from board
Tickers ENSC
Ensysce Biosciences said director Curtis Rosebraugh resigned effective April 1, 2026, and that he had served on the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.
Key facts
- Company
- Ensysce Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENSC)
- News type
- Company Updates
- Primary source
- Ensysce Biosciences, Inc. 8-K (2026-04-03)
Ensysce Biosciences, Inc. disclosed that Curtis Rosebraugh has resigned from its Board of Directors. The resignation notice was dated and effective April 1, 2026. The disclosure appears in an 8-K filed April 3, 2026 under Item 5.02, which covers departures and appointments of directors and certain officers. Until his resignation, Dr. Rosebraugh served on the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the board. The text of the resignation notice is attached to the filing as Exhibit 17. The filing does not state a reason for the resignation.
What the filing says
The 8-K says the company received the resignation notice from Dr. Rosebraugh, a member of its Board of Directors, on April 1, 2026. The notice was effective the same day. The 8-K is signed by Dr. Lynn Kirkpatrick, who is President and Chief Executive Officer. The filing's only other item is the cover page interactive data file. It does not name a replacement director or a new committee member.
The company and its programs
The company's annual report, filed March 30, 2026, describes Ensysce as a clinical stage pharmaceutical company seeking to develop innovative solutions for severe pain relief while reducing the potential for opioid misuse, abuse and overdose. The report says prescription opioid abuse presents major burdens to society, and that the company's proprietary technologies are designed to deter abuse at the molecular level.
The lead product candidate, PF614, is a TAAP oxycodone prodrug. The company says TAAP, short for Trypsin Activated Abuse Protection, is designed to release oxycodone only when the drug is ingested and exposed to trypsin in the digestive tract. The report says that approach differs from formulation-based strategies such as OxyContin OP, which uses Intac technology, and Extampza ER, which uses DETERx. The MPAR platform, short for Multi-Pill Abuse Resistant, is designed to deter abuse and, when combined with TAAP prodrugs, to reduce overdose occurrences.
The annual report says the company filed an Investigational New Drug application and completed a Phase 1 clinical trial for PF614 in February 2018. It cites a second multi-ascending dose study with a bioequivalent arm completed in July 2022, a nasal human abuse potential study completed in October 2022, a second oral human abuse potential study completed in March 2023, and an efficacy study completed in December 2023.
The company's corporate history is also in the report. It was originally incorporated in Delaware in April 2003 as PharmacoFore, Inc. It changed its name to Signature Therapeutics Inc. in January 2012. In June 2021, the former Ensysce merged into Leisure Acquisition Corporation, which took the Ensysce Biosciences name.
Financial position
The annual report shows revenue of $5.1 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, compared with $5.2 million for 2024. Research and development expense was $10.4 million in 2025, up from $7.2 million in 2024. Cash used in operations was $7.8 million in 2025 and $7.5 million in 2024. Year-end cash and cash equivalents were $3.5 million at December 31, 2024.
What the filing leaves out
The 8-K gives no reason for Dr. Rosebraugh's departure and names no replacement, so shareholders cannot tell from it whether the exit reflects any disagreement. The filing does not say how the committee seat will be handled, and nothing in it describes further board changes.
The company's own figures show why a board change draws attention. Cash used in operations was $7.8 million in 2025, compared with year-end 2024 cash of $3.5 million, and research and development expense rose to $10.4 million. Revenue was $5.1 million. The annual report cites an efficacy study of PF614 completed in December 2023, but the sources give no results from it. The Phase 1 data the report describes show that PF614 released oxycodone with blood levels matching OxyContin OP, which is a drug-exposure finding, not proof of pain relief or safety.