Serenatis Bio

What Serenatis Bio does

Serenatis Bio is a privately held, pre-clinical biotechnology company founded in 2024 and headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The company is developing a pipeline of three novel small-molecule drug candidates that target glutamate and dopamine pathways to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a condition the company frames as affecting an estimated 240 million people worldwide and imposing £10.7 billion in economic and healthcare costs on the UK alone. The pipeline is positioned against documented limitations of current standard of care — SSRIs, tricyclic antidepressants, and antipsychotics — including slow onset (months), significant side effects, and high rates of residual symptomatology, alongside limited access to cognitive behavioral therapy with high dropout rates.

The drug discovery program is built on AI and computational methods spanning biotechnology, bioinformatics, and computational biomedical engineering, used to accelerate lead identification and optimization and to tailor candidates to individual neurobiological profiles under a precision medicine framework. Scientific oversight is provided by Prof Trevor Robbins (Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Director of the Behavioural and Clinical Neurosciences Institute at Cambridge, Fellow of the Royal Society) and Prof Jon Grant (Professor of Psychiatry at University of Chicago, specialising in compulsive and impulsive disorders). Pre-clinical execution is delivered through dedicated CRO relationships with Sygnature Discovery, o2h discovery, and GeN.DDi.

The company is pre-revenue and intends to monetize through out-licensing or partnership with larger pharmaceutical companies for clinical development and commercialization, with future royalty streams. It is venture-backed by Zinc VC, p53, and Novaterra and is currently advancing a 2026 funding round. Headcount is in the 11-50 range under the leadership of CEO and co-founder David Cavalla (35 years of pharma industry experience, formerly founder and CEO of Arachnova Ltd) and Executive Chairman and co-founder Nick Sireau (OCD patient advocate with prior regulatory approval experience in rare disease drug development).

Name

Serenatis Bio

Legal name

Serenatis Bio

Website

https://serenatisbio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Serenatis Bio is a pre-clinical Cambridge, UK biotechnology company developing three novel small-molecule drug candidates that target glutamate and dopamine pathways for obsessive-compulsive disorder, using AI-driven drug discovery and a planned licensing-based commercialization model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

OCD Therapeutics (Pre-clinical neuropsychiatric pharmaceuticals)

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing (3254)

SIC

Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834)

akta.pro primary industry

AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization (HLAGAJAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Target Identification & Validation Platforms (omics-driven, chemoproteomics, genetic validation) (HLAAAIAI)

Keywords

• Small-molecule drug discovery
• OCD therapeutics
• Neuropsychiatric drug development
• Computational drug discovery
• Central nervous system pharmaceuticals

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Future Drug Licensing/Royalties: Pre-revenue biotech company. Future revenue anticipated from licensing novel OCD therapeutics to pharmaceutical partners or through acquisition. Three drug candidates in development targeting glutamate and dopamine pathways.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Serenatis Bio is a pre-clinical biotechnology company developing three novel small-molecule drug candidates with unique mechanisms of action that target glutamate and dopamine neural pathways to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The company applies AI-driven computational methods, bioinformatics, and computational biomedical engineering to accelerate discovery, with a precision medicine approach tailoring each candidate to individual neurobiological profiles. The pipeline is currently pre-clinical and is advancing toward clinical studies, with anticipated future commercialization via licensing or partnership with larger pharmaceutical companies.

Product overview

Serenatis Bio is a biotech company developing a pipeline of three novel small-molecule drug candidates targeting glutamate and dopamine pathways for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) treatment. The three unique candidates represent a unified therapeutic approach aimed at addressing the pathophysiological underpinnings of OCD through precision medicine, with each candidate tailored to individual neurobiological profiles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pipeline of three novel small-molecule OCD drug candidates A pre-clinical pipeline of three proprietary small-molecule drug candidates, each with a distinct mechanism of action targeting glutamate and dopamine neural pathways, developed for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and intended for future out-licensing, partnership, or acquisition by pharmaceutical companies for clinical development and commercialization.

Quantifiable outcome

• Global OCD prevalence: 240 million people affected worldwide
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Sygnature DiscoverycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading integrated drug discovery partner and contract research organisation (CRO) specialising in high-quality research and expertise within the neuroscience specialty for Serenatis Bio's drug development program.
• o2h discoverycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntegrated drug discovery CRO specialising in medicinal chemistry and lead optimisation. Co-hosted Cambridge X London Life Sciences Showcase where Serenatis pitched.
• GeN.DDicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialised neuroscience contract research organisation (CRO) focusing on translational in vivo pharmacology for proof of concept studies.
• GoodwinminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerGlobally recognised law firm with expertise spanning life sciences, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies providing legal support.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• BenevolentAI: UK-based AI drug discovery company using machine learning to identify novel therapeutic targets and small molecules. Geographic and methodological peer based in the UK life sciences ecosystem applying AI to CNS and other indications.
• Exscientia: AI-driven small-molecule drug discovery company using computational methods to accelerate candidate design across multiple therapeutic areas. Directly comparable on the AI/computational drug discovery platform that Serenatis employs for its OCD pipeline.
• Neumora Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing precision medicines for brain diseases with OCD as a stated focus area (e.g., NMRA-140). Directly comparable as a CNS-focused therapeutics developer targeting underserved psychiatric conditions.
• Recursion Pharmaceuticals: AI-enabled drug discovery company using computational biology and machine learning to identify novel therapeutics at scale. Comparable as a platform-based drug discovery company employing AI methods to drive preclinical asset generation.

Broad incumbents

• Lundbeck: Specialty pharma dedicated to brain diseases with active CNS pipelines and commercial infrastructure in psychiatric indications. A likely licensing/BD counterparty for Serenatis and a competing developer of OCD therapies.
• Sage Therapeutics: Biopharma developing CNS medicines with neurology and psychiatry focus. Overlaps in CNS pipeline strategy and target underserved psychiatric patient populations similar to Serenatis's OCD thesis.
• Acadia Pharmaceuticals: Established CNS-focused pharma with approved treatments in adjacent psychiatric space and pipeline assets in OCD-related indications. Directly competes for the same prescriber base in OCD treatment.
• Biohaven Ltd: Neuroscience-focused clinical-stage biopharma developing therapies for brain and nervous system disorders. Shares the precision-neuroscience strategic positioning targeting psychiatric conditions.

Emerging players

• Compass Pathways: Mental health-focused biopharma developing innovative therapies for treatment-resistant psychiatric conditions including OCD. Comparable as a developer targeting underserved neuropsychiatric populations with novel mechanism approaches.
• Insilico Medicine: AI-driven drug discovery platform combining generative chemistry and target identification to develop novel therapeutics. Comparable on the AI-first discovery methodology applied to small-molecule drug development.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/serenatis-bio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Serenatis Bio