Pharmaceutical Business review

Senda raises funds to advance programmable medicines platform development

Senda will use the funding to advance its programmable medicines’ platform development into clinical testing. Credit: National Cancer Institute on Unsplash.

Flagship Pioneering took part in the financing round, which has also seen participation from new investors, including Bluwave Capital, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Stage 1 Ventures, and Samsung Life Science Fund.

Existing investors including State of Michigan Retirement System, Mayo Clinic, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Longevity Vision Fund, Partners Investment have also participated in the round.

The latest financing brings the total funding raised by the company till now to $266m.

Senda’s platform deconstructs the chemical-addressing codes of natural nanoparticles from species across all kingdoms of life which have evolved for transporting biomolecules into human cells precisely.

The company is programming nanoparticles with important bio properties, such as specific cell and tissue targeting and repeatable dosing, by cataloging the chemical-addressing codes into a large, diverse atlas.

Its platform combines the atlas with an mRNA engine and completely unlocks the potential for generating a new class of comprehensively programmed medicines.

The medicines’ unique properties create new frontiers for therapies and vaccines with further possible applications in the gene-editing and protein-based therapy landscapes.

Senda Biosciences CEO Guillaume Pfefer said: “Senda is pioneering the development of comprehensively programmable medicines with the potential to reach previously inaccessible cells, tissues, and organs.

​“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 recognise this potential and its significance.”