Arête Therapeutics is a privately-held pharmaceutical company committed to the discovery and development of first-in-class small molecule drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular, metabolic, and inflammatory diseases. These compounds are based on pioneering research on inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase (s-EH), an enzyme which plays a key role in the newly recognized third pathway of arachidonic acid metabolism. Extensive preclinical studies show that an s-EH inhibitor has the potential to offer a unique profile as an ëanti-hypertensive plusí agent that not only lowers blood pressure but also offers end organ protection of the heart and kidney, and protection against vascular inflammation.

Arête initiated a phase 1 clinical trial in October 2007 for its first-in-class anti-hypertensive plus agent AR9281. This is the first s-EH inhibitor to enter human clinical trials. In addition, the company has a series of several chemically diverse and proprietary s-EH inhibitors that have demonstrated preclinical efficacy in various animal models of hypertension, metabolic syndrome and inflammation.

Arête’s strong intellectual property portfolio includes the exclusive license to a series of patents resulting from over two decades of pioneering research by its scientific founder Dr. Bruce Hammock at UC Davis, as well as patents based on internal research and development efforts at the Company.