Aptinyx Inc.

remarks, we will open the call for your questions. Please be advised, the call is being recorded at the company's request. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Nick Smith, Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations at AppNix. Nick, please proceed.

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us on today's conference call to discuss AppNix's financial and operating results for the second quarter of 2021. Our press release describing the financial results and recent highlights is now available on our website. Today on our call, Norbert Riedel, our Chief Executive Officer, will review the recent business updates. And then Andy Kidd, our President and Chief Operating Officer, will review progress across our development programs. Followed by Ashish Khanna, our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer, will review the financial results. In addition, Catherine King, our Senior Vice President of Clinical Development, and Harold Merck, our Vice President of Medical and Pharmacovigilance, will be on the line for the Q&A portion of the call. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that statements made during this conference call will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially. Any forward-looking statements are made only as of today, and we disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Please see the forward-looking statements disclaimer in our financial results release issued this afternoon and the risk factors in the company's current and subsequent filings with the SEC. I would now like to turn the call over to Norbert to kick things off.

Thank you, Nick, and hello, everyone. We appreciate you taking the time to join us on this afternoon's call. Before we get to the discussion of our productive second quarter, I am pleased to share that we have set a plan in place to transition the role of CEO over to Andy Kidd, our current president and chief operating officer. While we are announcing this plan now, the change in roles and responsibilities will not become effective until January of 2022. This succession plan has been well thought through and follows on the appointment of Andy to the role of President, which took place last December. Given his deep knowledge of the business and his track record of building and growing teams, the Board of Directors and I are confident that Andy is the ideal person to take over the role of CEO. Since joining AppLinix in 2017, Andy has been crucial to the success of our organization. Leading many of our internal functions and serving as the lead executive on our product development teams, Andy is intimately involved in all aspects of our business. He has been a great teammate for everyone within the organization, and I have no doubt that he will excel in the role of CEO. I am looking forward to continuing my partnership with him during and after this transition. As our R&D execution progresses at an exciting pace and we move closer to the important readouts ahead, now is the ideal time to be initiating this leadership change to ensure continuity during a period of potential significant growth next year. As part of this plan, I will transition into the role of executive chair and will remain actively involved alongside Andy and the other members of our board through and following the major milestones ahead. I remain fully confident in the promise of our innovative technology platform to deliver novel therapeutic options for patients suffering from underserved CNS conditions. And I believe this transition plan is consistent with our focus on recognizing that value for patients and for shareholders. Aligned with the upcoming transition, I am pleased to have Andy deliver the updates on our clinical programs. So Andy, please proceed. Thank you, Norbert.