SenesTech Inc. (NASDAQ: SNES)

SenesTech Inc. (NASDAQ: SNES) is the rodent fertility control expert and the inventor of the only EPA-registered contraceptive for male and female rats. The company’s technology provides an innovative and humane method for managing rat populations.

SenesTech is focused on developing effective solutions that are grounded in science and proven through research, all while providing value to people, communities and the environment. The company’s passion is to create a healthier world by better controlling rat pest populations. This aim is critical, as, if left unchecked, a breeding pair of rats and their descendants can produce up to 15,000 pups after just one year.

The company strives for clean cities, efficient businesses and happy households – with a product that was scientifically designed to be effective without killing rats. SenesTech is committed to the sustainable, humane treatment of animals, improving the quality of all human life and enhancing environmental stewardship through the global application of its effective solution in fertility control technology.

SenesTech is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

ContraPest®

SenesTech’s first product, ContraPest®, applies revolutionary technology to a global challenge that has persisted since the Middle Ages – the proliferation of rats in urban and agricultural settings. ContraPest® targets the reproductive capabilities of Norway and roof rats. As a highly palatable liquid, the formulation promotes sustained consumption, helping to reduce fertility in both male and female rats, bringing populations down and keeping them down.

The company’s flagship offering can be used as part of integrated pest management (IPM) programs – fitting seamlessly into all IPM programs – to help reduce reproduction and magnify the success of these protocols, or as a standalone solution for customers who want to reduce or eliminate the use of lethal rodent control methods.

In multiple, independent field deployments, ContraPest was shown to reduce rat activity over 90% when added to an existing IPM program.

ContraPest® is registered federally as a General Use Product.

Delivery Systems and New Products

In July 2023, SenesTech began to distribute a new delivery system for ContraPest®, the Isolate Bait System™. This new delivery system brings to market a simple design that enables more efficient deployment, incorporates an enhanced formulation of ContraPest® that is expected to provide improved performance of the fertility control bait in the field and is paired with a new bait station that is more space-efficient and economical.

The other delivery systems available for ContraPest include the Ultimate Bait System™, a tank and tray in a larger format for use with more severe infestations, and the Elevate Bait System™, a unique delivery system that targets above ground infestations, as with roof rats.

SenesTech, as of August 2023, is also in the final stages of releasing a soft bait formulation, which provides the unique attributes of proven fertility control in an industry-familiar format demanded by big box retailers, key e-commerce channels and leading industry pest management professionals.

Market Opportunity

According to SenesTech’s figures, rats cause over $27 billion in damage to public and private infrastructure annually in the United States. Rats also destroy 20% of the global stored food supply every year by consuming or contaminating it.

Rats are known to spread at least 35 diseases, globally posing a dangerous risk to public health and safety. Not only does this age-old problem persist despite extensive campaigns to eradicate it, but multiple sources have reported that post-COVID rat populations have boomed.

Poison-based control methods sicken rats, and they typically die slowly. An animal that eats a poisoned rat may also sicken or die. The global rodenticide market is projected to be worth $1.7 billion by 2026.

In one case study, results reported by the customer showed a $5,000 investment in ContraPest® saved more than $500,000 annually in reduced labor, loss and damage.

Management Team

Joel Fruendt is SenesTech’s President and CEO. He has 15 years of executive leadership in the vector and pest control industries as Vice President and General Manager of Clarke Environmental Inc., a leading vector and pest control products and services company. He has extensive expertise in the development and manufacturing of EPA-registered chemical control products, and the commercialization and sale of those products. He received the ‘Smart Leaders’ award from Smart Business Magazine and holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Illinois Wesleyan University.

Tom Chesterman is CFO at SenesTech. He has over 20 years of experience as the CFO of public companies in the life science, tech and telecommunications industries. Most recently, he was the Vice President and Treasurer of GCI, a telecommunications company. Previous to that, he was the CFO of life science companies Bio-Rad Laboratories, Aradigm and Bionovo. He has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and an MBA from the University of California at Davis.

Dan Palasky is Chief Technical Officer at SenesTech. Previously he held the title of Vice President of Research & Development at PLZ Corp., a manufacturer of chemical consumer products, serving as the technical expert for its entire product portfolio. He started his career with Camie-Campbell, Inc., as a chemist in the R&D department. Mr. Palasky received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Missouri University of Science & Technology and his MBA in Project Management from Aspen University.