U.S.-headquartered Senda Biosciences, Inc. has completed $123 million in series C financing, bringing its total funding raised to date to $266 million.
Flagship Pioneering, which founded Senda, participated along with new investors, including the Samsung Life Science Fund, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Bluwave Capital, and Stage 1 Ventures. Also participating in the financing are current investors, including Alexandria Venture Investments, Longevity Vision Fund, Mayo Clinic, Partners Investment, and State of Michigan Retirement System.
“Senda is pioneering the development of comprehensively programmable medicines with the potential to reach previously inaccessible cells, tissues, and organs,” said Guillaume Pfefer, CEO of Senda Biosciences and partner at Flagship Pioneering.
“We believe our approach could transform the lives of patients in need of novel treatments, and so we’re delighted to have attracted support from investors who recognize this potential and its significance.”
The proceeds of the financing will be used to drive further development of Senda’s programmable medicines platform and advance its first programs into clinical testing.
Generating programmed medicines
Senda’s platform deconstructs the chemical-addressing codes of natural nanoparticles to precisely shuttle biomolecules into human cells.
By cataloging these chemical-addressing codes into a large, diverse atlas, Senda is programming nanoparticles with key bioproperties, including specific cell and tissue targeting and repeatable dosing. Combining the atlas with an mRNA engine, Senda said its platform unlocks the potential to generate a new class of comprehensively programmed medicines.
The unique properties of these medicines create new frontiers for therapeutics and vaccines with further possible applications in the gene-editing and protein-based therapy landscapes.
Pfefer said: “The enormous therapeutic promise of information molecules, such as mRNA, siRNA, and gene editors—which enable programming within cells of interest—has yet to be realized, owing in part to an inability to program to cells of interest.
“Senda’s extensive body of preclinical data in small and large animals, and across a range of disease models, shows that by combining these programmed nanoparticles with information molecules, we can program within and to cells. It’s quite exciting to know that this round of funding will help accelerate our platform expansion and refinement as we move our first programs toward the clinic.”
“Senda’s unique approach of programming specifically to cells of interest could be the key to unleashing the revolutionary therapeutic potential of current and future information molecules,” said Ignacio Martinez, chairperson of the board, cofounder of Senda Biosciences, and general partner, Flagship Pioneering.
“We’re thrilled that this group of co-investors has joined us to propel Senda’s pursuit of life-changing medicines.”