Funding to accelerate development of its platform and therapeutic programs
Senda Biosciences, a company that is systematically harnessing the powerful molecular interactions that have evolved over millennia between humans, plants, and bacteria to develop new types of medicines, announced today the completion of a $55 million Series B extension financing, bringing its total Series B funding to $98 million and total funding raised to date to $143 million. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the development of Senda’s platform and its therapeutic programs into clinical trials. Flagship Pioneering, Senda’s founder, participated along with new investors including Longevity Vision Fund, Terra Magnum Capital Partners, Mayo Clinic, Partners Investment and Mint Venture Partners. Current investors Alexandria Venture Investments and State of Michigan Retirement System also participated.
“Senda’s unique approach to understanding and harnessing the interspecies interactions within each of us as a means to treat and prevent human disease opens up tremendous new opportunities for improving human health,” said Guillaume Pfefer, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Senda Biosciences and Partner at Flagship Pioneering. “The Senda team has made great progress since launching in late 2020. We have significantly advanced our platform and therapeutic programs, established a strategic partnership with Nestlé Health Science, and began to build a world-class team. Now we have closed a Series B extension financing that will enable us to initiate multiple clinical programs as we continue to build out our platform and pipeline. We’re thrilled to have such a dedicated group of investors backing our work and sharing our vision. We look forward to sharing further updates on the progress of our lead programs as we move towards our first clinical trials in early 2022.”
“Humans have coevolved over millennia with other species in order to survive, resulting in sophisticated mechanisms that enable the exchange of molecular and genetic information between species within us,” said Scott Plevy, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Senda Biosciences. “These interactions are as impactful to human health as our genetics. Senda has generated significant data showing these interspecies connections can be leveraged broadly to treat and prevent disease. To date, we have produced proof-of-platform data showing the ability of our plant-derived transfer systems to deliver large biomolecules such as mRNA and peptides, with never-before-seen patterns of biodistribution. We’ve also generated preclinical data showing we can engineer bacteria-derived therapeutics that enable tunable, antigen-specific antibody and T cell responses. Finally, we’ve demonstrated the ability to precisely intervene in bacteria-to-human pathways linked to a variety of diseases.”
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