Serenex

Serenex, Inc. operated as a biopharmaceutical company with a sharp focus on oncology, specifically targeting the Heat Shock Protein 90 (Hsp90) pathway to develop novel cancer therapies. The company was founded in 2000 by a team that included Robert Dishman, who also served as president, biotech veterans George Young and Steve Hall, and Tim Haystead, a professor of pharmacology at Duke University. The foundational technology was developed by Haystead at the University of Virginia and was licensed to Serenex.

The company's core business revolved around its proprietary drug discovery platform, which facilitated high-throughput screening of small molecules against various therapeutic and toxicity targets. This technology was designed to identify biologically active compounds and their physiological targets simultaneously, streamlining the drug discovery process. Serenex developed a library of small molecule Hsp90 inhibitors, with applications not only in cancer but also potentially in inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Its primary clients were in the pharmaceutical sector through partnership and licensing deals. The company's lead product candidate, SNX-5422, was an oral Hsp90 inhibitor that entered Phase I clinical trials for treating solid tumors and hematological malignancies.

Financially, Serenex was venture-backed, securing a total of $79 million over four funding rounds between 2002 and 2007. Its investors included notable firms such as Lilly Ventures, Takeda Ventures, and Intersouth Partners. The company's significant progress and promising pipeline culminated in its acquisition by Pfizer in March 2008, a move that expanded Pfizer's oncology portfolio. At the time of the acquisition, Serenex was based in Durham, North Carolina.

Keywords: oncology therapeutics, Hsp90 inhibitors, cancer drug discovery, biopharmaceutical, small molecule inhibitors, Pfizer acquisition, clinical trials, heat shock protein 90, Robert Dishman, SNX-5422, drug development, proteomics, venture capital, solid tumors, hematological malignancies, molecular chaperone, biotechnology, therapeutics, anti-cancer drugs, pharma partnerships