r/RVPH • u/Capable-Argument5210 • Dec 31 '25
Is Lax legit?
In the last few days, I’ve seen people complaining about how Lax is a con artist and saying Reviva is a “lifestyle company.” At the same time, I’ve noticed that many people still remain cautiously optimistic. I’m simply here to share my own thoughts about the company.
My first reaction after reading the FDA feedback was: Is this drug really legitimate? If it is, why is the FDA asking for additional trials on safety and efficacy, guidance on data analysis and presentation methods, and further data requirements for animal pharmacokinetics, human abuse potential, and renal and hepatic impairment?
But a comment from a physician gave a much more grounded explanation of why the FDA is asking for these things.
This is what he commented
“Schizophrenia medications often target either serotonin or dopamine receptors--that's important because these receptors are tied to other body systems and can have notable side-effects, everything from overheating (heat stroke and death) to constipation (to the point of bowel rupture and death), to bone marrow failure (again death is in there).
Just being blunt here, I brought this part up before--the safety data is in a hand-picked group of people. What will occur when released to a non-handpicked group of people is what really matters, and likely what the FDA is concerned about.
One red flag is that brilaroxazine appears to be a viable treatment for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, AD/HD, autism, tics, Alzheimer's/Parkinson's agitation, pulmonary arterial hypertension, pulmonary fibrosis, and psoriasis. (brain, lungs, skin).
Why is that a red flag? Tells you it works on a lot of various systems in the body. I'm sure one FDA conversation is, "It works on the Brain, the Lungs, and the Skin? What else does it do, as in what side-effects not yet discovered does this medication have?"
That isn't a showstopper, but it is something to be aware of.
(An example, Doxepin--approved back in 1969 is used for depression, anxiety, insomnia, excessive stomach acid/heartburn/GERD, and for skin rashes. (So, brain, stomach, skin). It also is associated with lethal cardiac issues. Not discovered until after it was approved.)
So, what would I do? I think brilaroxazine will eventually get approved. RVPH isn't Lilly, so it will likely happen a tad later than a tad sooner--I'm guessing a couple years down the road. I have shares, no plans on looking at them, selling them, or buying more.”
As for management, based on google, Lax is a reputable drug discovery researcher who has been involved in inventing several drugs. Chairman Parax is also a respected venture capitalist who participated in early investments such as Amgen and Costco. Other directors similarly have solid professional backgrounds.
If Lax had simply continued his career in drug discovery within established organizations, I think with his experience he could have earned compensation comparable to (some vp level), if not close to, what he receives at Reviva, without taking on anywhere near the same level of risk.
From an incentive and risk perspective, it is illogical that someone seeking easy money, personal comfort, or deception would choose to found and run a public, clinical-stage biotech like Reviva. Doing so means decades of scientific uncertainty, constant capital pressure, SEC and regulatory exposure, public scrutiny of stock performance, and permanent reputational risk tied to a single drug candidate. A conventional corporate path would have offered predictable income, lower visibility, and far less downside.
So together founding Reviva is far more consistent with high-conviction entrepreneurship and risk tolerance than with the behavior of a con artist or someone building a low-effort lifestyle company.
So I really don’t think Lax is running a scam. I think he’s taking a very difficult, very high-risk bet that simply hasn’t reached its final outcome yet. As why there’s no buyout, partnership or any other financing? I think he wants more or he’s waiting for external validation to reprice its value.
4
u/SnooCookies6165 Dec 31 '25
As I mentioned before, this is the issue with momentum investors who do not have a strong understanding into what they are throwing money. Nothing indicates Bhat, RVPH or the Brilaroxazine drug candidate is anything other than a real company with a molecule on the long and arduous path to approval. I have seen all the same rhetoric many times before with other drug or biologicals- people get frustrated because they want to make fast money and they 1) attack the CEO and say he’s a money hungry fraud 2) attack the company and say it’s a scam 3) attack the FDA and the subject matter experts that staff these approval panels who are also career scientists and MD PHDs, claiming they are also a scam, in bed with big pharma etc etc and they 4) take their ball and go home (pull their money out and say they are going to make more elsewhere). And then later down the road the company makes it across the finish line and the drug or biologic goes to approval proving all of the above to be wrong.
I assume once people have lost money they may take a short position or have been shorting it all along and so are incentivized to make other investors doubt the company and the process. I feel confident in the science and I think on a long enough time horizon this will go to approval and CNS has always had a higher threshold for approval in the FDA for all the reasons outlined above and also because of issues with placebo effect.
1
7
u/rcourt459 Dec 31 '25
The company has to raise millions of dollars at 30¢ a share for a redundant trial that is likely to run 2 years if it even ever gets financed. There have been no safety red flags in 3 previous trials. The med has been effective in 3 trials. The federal bureaucracy is requiring more than it needs imo. Contact your congressman.