SEP-001 PAR4 antagonist and ThromboRisk™ companion diagnostic — targeting the only unaddressed axis of cardiovascular risk in women during and after the perimenopausal transition.
The perimenopausal transition is a coordinated biological event and the critical intervention window. As estrogen declines — not just after it disappears — F2RL3 demethylation activates the thromboinflammatory cascade. Waiting until a woman is fully postmenopausal means the PAR4 overdrive has already been running for years.
In 2020, the American Heart Association published its first-ever Scientific Statement on menopause transition and cardiovascular disease risk (El Khoudary et al., Circulation 2020;142:e506–e532) — the field's definitive reference. It formally recognised perimenopause as the period of greatest cardiovascular risk acceleration, and comprehensively reviewed lipids, blood pressure, vascular remodeling, adiposity, and metabolic risk. The PAR4-driven thromboinflammatory axis is absent. No approved therapy addresses it.
HRT initiated early attenuates cardiovascular risk (KEEPS, ELITE, WHI re-analyses). The problem: HRT penetration remains below 5% even in high-risk populations. And even optimal, well-timed HRT does not address the thromboinflammatory axis.
Women's heart disease is microvascular: clear arteries, microclots, and inflammation — not plaque occlusion. Existing therapies are built for the wrong model.
| Treatment Axis | HRT | NK3 Antagonists (Veozah · Lynkuet) | SEP-001 (PAR4) | HRT + SEP-001 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
CNS Symptom Relief Hot flashes · sleep · mood · cognition |
Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Peripheral Endothelial / Lipid Vascular tone · LDL · eNOS — early window only |
Partial | No | No | Partial |
Peripheral Thromboinflammatory PAR4 · microclots · PMP burden · NETosis |
No | No | YES ◆ | YES ◆ |
Vanderbilt Drug Discovery has advanced 12+ drugs to the clinic. SEP-001's benzofuran-thiadiazole scaffold is differentiated from BMS's discontinued program. Lindsley's lab is actively progressing a series of follow-on PAR4 antagonist compounds.
The same compound. The same mechanism. Three concentric rings of clinical and commercial value — each unlocked by the same IND, the same biomarker, and the same ThromboRisk™ Panel.
No franchise currently targets estrogen-deficiency–driven thromboinflammation. Septagen occupies that gap and complements existing portfolios rather than displacing them.
Nine strategic buyers with independent rationale spanning cardiovascular leaders and women's health acquirors. Target: $200–$300M upfront at IND + FIH submission — the outlicense trigger.
$11M+ in prior NIH / Vanderbilt grant funding validates the science. $10M funds an 18-month runway to IND + FIH submission — the outlicense trigger. No Series A required.
$10M funds an 18-month sprint to IND + FIH submission. Both SEP-001 and ThromboRisk™ are outlicensed immediately upon submission. The partner funds and executes Phase 1 and all subsequent development. Septagen does not carry clinical-stage risk.
A full visual summary for each audience. Click any panel to view at full size.
Reference material for readers outside platelet biology — plain-language definitions for the abbreviations used throughout this site, followed by two diagrams of the PAR4 mechanism.
PAR1 and PAR4 both activate platelets, but only the PAR4 branch drives this Rho-Kinase/MLC contractile cascade strongly enough to shed microparticles at scale — 3× the rate of PAR1 (Hamm lab, PMID 23307185).
Those microparticles carry 5–100× the procoagulant activity of a resting platelet, and deliver P-selectin, CXCL4, and CCL5 to vessel walls and immune cells — a self-amplifying inflammatory loop.
Vorapaxar, a PAR1 antagonist, leaves this entire pathway intact. SEP-001 targets PAR4 directly, addressing the branch responsible for the thromboinflammatory burden while preserving PAR1-mediated hemostasis.