SUGEN

SUGEN (Sugen) was a drug discovery company focused on development of protein kinase inhibitors. It was founded in 1991, and shut down in 2003, after pioneering protein kinases as therapeutic targets and developing the successful cancer therapy sunitinib (Sutent).

Sugen was founded in 1991 in Redwood City, California, by veteran biotech investor Stephen Evans-Freke and kinase researchers Joseph Schlessinger and Axel Ullrich. The name was derived from the initials of Schlessinger and Ullrich, and the "GEN" for Genetics. Sugen developed small-molecule inhibitors of protein kinases, key enzymes in signal transduction and cellular decision-making. The main focus was on oncology, though the company had collaborations in other therapeutic areas. The concept of inhibiting kinases by small molecules that mimicked the ATP structure was generally thought to be infeasible when the company was founded (due to the high (mM) concentration of ATP in cells), and Sugen has been credited with pioneering this area, leading to protein kinases being the second most active area of drug development, largely based on ATP-competitive inhibitors. Sugen also had research programs on protein phosphatases, none of which led to therapeutics.

Sugen went public in October 1994 (NASDAQ: SUGN), and shortly after filed its first Investigational New Drug (IND) application, for a PDGFR inhibitor, SU101. This failed clinically, but was followed by a different series of compounds that inhibited VEGFR kinases (involved in angiogenesis) as well as PDGFR and Kit. Of these, SU5416 (Semaxanib) and SU6668 went into clinical trials for colon cancer in 1999. SU5416 proceeded to Phase 3 trials, while the follow-on compound, SU11248 (Sunitinib) was later approved for human use, and a related compound SU11654 () was approved for canine tumors.

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