• Available Technologies
• Technology Development & Accelerator
• Guidelines, Policies & Forms
• Media Center
• About Us
• Contact Us

Press Releases

Cambridge, MA, November 29, 2007 - Syndexa Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Harvard University’s Office of Technology Development (OTD) announced today the formation of Syndexa, a biopharmaceutical start up company dedicated to advancing a platform of novel therapeutic compounds that target molecular mechanisms linking chronic inflammation to metabolic and other diseases. Among the diseases this technology has the potential to address are obesity-induced conditions such as type 2 diabetes, and atherosclerosis, fatty liver disease, neurodegenerative and inflammation-related diseases. The company’s founding technologies were developed by Dr. Gökhan S. Hotamisligil at the Harvard School of Public Health and are exclusively licensed from Harvard.

One of the first diseases to be addressed by Syndexa’s novel approach is obesity-induced type 2 diabetes. “Obesity has reached epidemic proportions, and is a major risk factor for not only diabetes, but for a host of other metabolic diseases,” said Teo Uysal, President and CEO of Syndexa. “We believe that our approach offers significant promise to treat the underlying molecular causes of these conditions.”

Limitations of current therapeutic approaches to treat obesity and related metabolic disorders include: 1) amelioration, but not halting disease progression; 2) addressing only a single risk factor, but not the metabolic syndrome in its entirety; and 3) production of side effects that limit the dose and efficacy.

To date, the Company has raised over $4M from private investors, and plans to raise an additional $15M in a Series B financing to fund its pipeline over the next 2 years.

Dr. Gökhan S. Hotamisligil, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board and Syndexa’s scientific founder, stated, “We have demonstrated that the modulation of JNK and Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) biology has unexpected phenomenal effects on metabolic disorders. The company has generated important proof-of-principle data that demonstrates that small molecule compounds can be identified that can modulate the inflammatory responses associated with JNK activity and ER biology. We believe that these compounds will have robust anti-diabetic and anti-atherosclerotic activity. This not only confirms our initial research findings but also gives us confidence that a successful drug will emerge from this work.” Dr. Hotamisligil is also the James Stevens Simmons Professor of Genetics & Metabolism and Chair, Department of Genetics & Complex Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health.

Isaac T. Kohlberg, Chief Technology Development Officer, Harvard University, added, “The launch of Syndexa is yet another example of Harvard advancing its mission to develop important technologies, invented by its faculty, that benefit the public good. The founders of Syndexa are established scientists recognized for their contributions in understanding the critical interplay between inflammation and metabolic disease states. We are confident in this leadership team and in the potential of the technology developed by Dr. Hotamisligil to impact medicine and provide new treatment modalities for obesity, diabetes and other metabolic diseases.”

Per the terms of the agreement, Syndexa has acquired exclusive rights to the technology and to develop and market products that emanate from it. Harvard will receive downstream royalties, and has also taken an equity position in Syndexa.

About Harvard University’s Office of Technology Development
The Harvard Office of Technology Development (OTD) is responsible for all activities pertaining to the evaluation, patenting and licensing of new inventions and discoveries made at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School. OTD also serves to further the development of Harvard technologies through the establishment of sponsored research collaborations with industry. OTD’s mission is to promote the public good by fostering innovation and translating new inventions made at Harvard into useful products available and beneficial to society.

About Syndexa Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Syndexa is dedicated to the discovery and development of a new generation of drugs targeting novel biological mechanisms for the treatment and prevention of metabolic diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, and cardiovascular disease. The principal technology platform of Syndexa targets the biological interface between inflammatory and metabolic pathways with unique tools and approaches. Syndexa’s approach will create novel drugs that address the underlying causal events leading to disease, providing superior drugs compared to current treatments available to patients. Syndexa drugs are positioned to be first-in-class compounds targeting novel disease mechanisms at the interface of inflammatory and metabolic pathways. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, MA.

Syndexa’s senior management team includes Teo Uysal, President and CEO and a co-founder of Syndexa. Mr. Uysal is an experienced scientist, having conducted biomedical research in the field of metabolic diseases in Dr. Hotamisligil’s lab and having co-authored a number of original research articles. Prior to Syndexa, Mr. Uysal held a senior position at Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath (PRTM), a leading life science consulting company. Prior to joining PRTM, he was employed by Precision Therapeutics, Inc. as a manager of business development. Additionally, he was an associate at Polaris Venture Partners. He holds an MBA degree from Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, and a BA degree in Biology and Economics from Brandeis University. He also attended Harvard Medical School and Harvard University where he successfully completed various advanced biomedical courses.

Jurgen Lehmann, Ph.D. has served as Syndexa’s Vice President of Discovery since September 2006. Dr. Lehmann has nearly 15 years of drug discovery experience in the field of metabolic diseases in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Previously, he was co-founder and chief scientific officer of CareX SA . From 1999 to 2001 he was the Nuclear Receptor program director at Tularik Inc, and before that he spent 6 years at Glaxo, North Carolina. He has authored more than 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has made instrumental contributions to the identification of three Glaxo development compounds. He holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Munich, Germany and is a board certified pharmacist.

The company is also supported by a renowned Scientific Advisory Board:

Gökhan S. Hotamisligil, M.D., Ph.D.
Scientific Founder
James Stevens Simmons Professor of Genetics & Metabolism
Chair, Department of Genetics & Complex Diseases
Harvard School of Public Health

Barbara B. Kahn, M.D.
Chief, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Michael Karin, Ph.D.
Scientific Co-founder
Professor of Pharmacology
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

Randal J. Kaufman, Ph.D.
Professor of Biological Chemistry and Professor of Internal Medicine
University of Michigan Medical School
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Steven E. Shoelson, M.D., Ph.D.
Helen and Morton Adler Chair
Associate Research Director, Joslin Diabetes Center
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School