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Senda Biosciences

Biotech & Life Sciences · Cambridge, United States · Founded 2017

Senda Biosciences, Inc. operates at the intersection of biology and technology to develop programmable medicines. The company was founded in 2017 and formally unveiled in October 2020 by Flagship Pioneering, a life sciences venture creation firm. Senda's founding was spearheaded by a group including Noubar Afeyan, David Kolesky, David Berry, and Ignacio Martinez. In a significant strategic move, Senda merged with another Flagship company, Laronde, in October 2023 to form Sail Biomedicines, a new entity led by Senda's CEO, Guillaume Pfefer. Pfefer, who also serves as a CEO-Partner at Flagship, brings over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, spanning R&D, manufacturing, and commercial operations. The company's core focus is on what it terms "intersystems biology," studying the molecular interactions between human cells and co-evolved non-human species like bacteria and botanicals. The business model centers on a proprietary platform that maps these interactions to create targeted therapies. This platform features two main components: a vast atlas of nature-derived programmable systems and an mRNA engine. By deconstructing the chemical codes of natural nanoparticles that shuttle biomolecules into human cells, Senda can program these nanoparticles for specific cell and tissue targeting and enable repeatable dosing. The combination of this targeting system with messenger RNA (mRNA) and other information molecules forms the basis of its SendRNA™ medicines. This approach aims to solve a critical challenge in drug delivery: getting therapeutic payloads to previously inaccessible cells and tissues. Financially, Senda has been robustly supported, raising a total of $266 million through a series of funding rounds prior to its merger. Key funding events include a Series A round of $44.6 million in October 2020, a Series B of $98 million in June 2021, and a Series C of $123 million in August 2022. These funds were earmarked for advancing the development platform and moving its initial programs into clinical testing. Investors include a mix of venture capital and strategic partners such as the Qatar Investment Authority, Samsung Life Science Fund, Mayo Clinic, and Longevity Vision Fund. The company has also engaged in strategic collaborations, notably a partnership with Nestlé Health Science to develop therapies for metabolic conditions. Senda's therapeutic pipeline targets a broad range of diseases, including infectious diseases, oncology, and metabolic, autoimmune, and genetic disorders. The platform's capabilities are not limited to mRNA, with potential applications for gene editing and protein-based therapies as well. The merger into Sail Biomedicines is set to integrate Senda's nanoparticle delivery technology with Laronde's Endless RNA (eRNA) platform, aiming to create a new generation of fully programmable medicines. Keywords: Senda Biosciences, Sail Biomedicines, Flagship Pioneering, programmable medicine, SendRNA, mRNA delivery, nanoparticle drug delivery, intersystems biology, Guillaume Pfefer, Noubar Afeyan, biotherapeutics, gene therapy, targeted medicine, oncology, infectious diseases, metabolic diseases, autoimmune diseases, venture capital, biotech funding, drug discovery platform