SenesTech appoints industry veteran to CEO

Joel Fruendt

SenesTech Inc. CEO Ken Siegel plans to retire at the end of 2022, and his successor has been named. Joel Fruendt is a veteran chief executive, with more than 15 years of leadership experience in the vector and pest control industry — including serving as vice president and general manager of Clarke Environmental Inc.

Per a news release, Fruendt “brings extensive expertise in the development and manufacturing of EPA-registered chemical control products, commercialization and sales of those products, and leading large sales and service organizations. Most recently, he served as president and CEO of a global manufacturing company in the reflective technology and safety industry, where he spearheaded their successful revenue and profit growth through innovation and efficiency initiatives.”

Siegel will remain as an executive director and consultant through the transition period for SenesTech, which manufactures the rodent contraceptive product ContraPest.

“Over the past three-and-a-half years, we have laid the groundwork for the successful commercialization of ContraPest,” Siegel said in the news release. “We have completed necessary fieldwork, we have improved the product’s performance and delivery, we have initiated the needed awareness in the commercial end user market, and we have enhanced our relationships with pest control partners. This is an ideal time for Joel to bring his unique skills and experience to further those relationships and take ContraPest to the next level.”

About SenesTech

Founded in 2004, SenesTech is the result of two female scientists with a breakthrough technology that induced menopause in mice. Their mission at the time was to provide a tool for scientific research into women’s health issues. Successfully having done just that, a new use for their technology became clear: controlling rat pest populations through fertility. This idea created a new drive and a new mission. ContraPest — “Birth Control for Rats” — was created. In 2016, ContraPest was registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and according to SenesTech, it is the first and only rat contraceptive on the market today for restricting fertility in both male and female rats.