Proceeds from the fund activities will be used to back Senda’s proprietary programmable medicines platform and advance its projects to clinical trial stages.
On Tuesday, Senda Biosciences announced it has raised $123 million from a recently completed Series C funding round, bringing its total amount raised to $226 million to support its proprietary programmable medicines platform.
The company banks on its ability to deconstruct chemical-addressing codes of natural nanoparticles from various species in nature to possibly create targeted and tunable medicines. Though it currently has no product in clinical testing, the company has already generated a large sum for its promising potential.
“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,” Guillaume Pfefer, Ph.D., Senda Biosciences CEO and partner at Flagship Pioneering, Senda’s founding company, said.
“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,” Pfefer added.
Senda’s platform uses deconstructed codes combined with an mRNA engine to precisely shuttle biomolecules into human cells, programming nanoparticles with key bioproperties to perform specific tissue and cell targeting and enable repeatable dosing.
If successful, Senda could create a new line of therapies and vaccines and advance protein-based therapies and gene-editing. Senda is intent on using its platform to develop SendRNA medicines for genetic, infectious, autoimmune and metabolic diseases and oncology.
“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,” Pfefer said.
Flagship participated in the Series C alongside new investors, including Qatar Investment Authority, Samsung Life Science Fund, Stage 1 Ventures and Bluwave Capital. Current investors Longevity Vision Fund, Partners Investment, Alexandria Venture Investments, Mayo Clinic and the State of Michigan Retirement System also contributed.
“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. We’re thrilled that this group of co-investors has joined us to propel Senda’s pursuit of life-changing medicines,” Ignacio Martinez, chairperson of the board, co-founder of Senda Biosciences and general partner of Flagship Pioneering, said in a statement.
Flagship launched Senda in October 2020 with $88 million in financial backing. The company raised another $98 million through its Series B financing in June 2021.
