# University of Utah Health Press Release: BioEnergenix Metabolic Syndrome Spinoff

**Type:** source
**Status:** Useful
**Confidence:** Low
**Source Type:** University Press Release
**URL:** https://healthcare.utah.edu/press-releases/2014/07/partnership-spinoff-company-may-soon-lead-clinical-trials-of-metabolic
**Publisher:** University of Utah Health
**Published:** 2014-07-03
**Accessed:** 2026-06-19
**Updated:** 2026-06-19

## Summary

A July 2014 University of Utah Health press release describes BioEnergenix as a University of Utah spinoff company co-founded in 2009 by biochemistry professor Jared Rutter. The release links the company to preclinical work on PASK (PAS kinase) inhibition as a potential metabolic-syndrome therapeutic strategy, using a drug candidate developed by BioEnergenix in rodent studies published in *Cell Reports*.

## Useful Claims

- BioEnergenix is described as a University of Utah spinoff company co-founded in 2009 by Jared Rutter, Ph.D.
- Allen Nickols is named as affiliated with BioEnergenix in rodent research described in the release.
- The company was developing a drug candidate intended to block PASK from modifying SREBP-1c, reducing hepatic fatty-acid and triglyceride production in mouse and rat models.
- In those preclinical models, insulin resistance and diabetes were partially reversed in diabetes-prone animals.
- Rutter stated hope to begin human clinical trials of a drug "in the next couple of years" as of the 2014 release date.
- The release frames the work as a public/private partnership between university researchers and the spinoff company.

## Reliability Notes

This is an institutional press release tied to a specific 2014 publication — useful for spinoff provenance and the PASK-inhibition thesis, but not for current company status, pipeline stage, headquarters, funding, or clinical progress. **No official company website was found during this migration.** Third-party directories (not captured here) disagree on headquarters and later-stage development; those claims should not be treated as verified without primary filings or company disclosures. Evidence gap: nothing reviewed confirms BioEnergenix is still actively operating or advancing the same candidate as of 2026-06-19.

## Related Pages

- [BioEnergenix](bioenergenix.md)