Jenrin Discovery
www.jenrindiscovery.com
Jenrin Discovery is a privately-held company developing a pipeline of proprietary ‘first-in-class’ small molecule drugs designed to selectively target peripheral tissues. Many marketed or advanced clinical stage non-psychiatric drugs are plagued by a sub-optimal safety profile, due to psychiatric and neurologic side effects. Jenrin applies its technology and medicinal chemistry expertise to structurally modify such drugs so as to prevent penetration across the blood-brain barrier, resulting in negligible or no brain levels of drug. The new peripherally selective (PS) chemical entities retain the pharmacological activity and other essential properties of the original parent drug, but carry little or no risk of neuropsychiatric effects, thus offering a safer alternative to the original parent drugs. The Jenrin strategy of ‘rational drug re-design’ capitalizes on years of medicinal chemistry that were used to optimize the original drug, significantly shortening discovery timelines and lowering development risk.
Development activities have focused on targeted programs, including metabolic disorders, inflammation/pain, and infectious diseases. More than a dozen patent applications have been filed, and more than 1,000 compounds have been synthesized in three programs. Jenrin is seeking a strategic collaboration for its most advanced program targeting diabetes, liver diseases, and obesity.
