Sensei Biotherapeutics, Inc., a Gaithersburg, MD- and Boston, MA-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, completed a $28.5m equity financing.
The round was co-led by Cambrian Biopharma and H&S Ventures, along with participation from new investors Future Ventures, Christian Angermayer’s Apeiron Investment Group, and Presight Ventures, Apeiron’s U.S. arm.
Led by John Celebi, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sensei Biotherapeutics is currently advancing multiple clinical and pre-clinical studies with their lead Immunophage program, SNS-301, a bacteriophage engineered to express aspartate β-hydroxylase (ASPH), a tumor associated antigen.
The proceeds from the Series AA financing will enable the further development of SNS-301 and enable the advancement of Sensei’s pipeline of novel immunotherapies based on its Immunophage platform, which combines a vaccine’s ability to generate antigen-specific B- and T-cells with payloads of immunomodulatory nanobodies.
In its next stage of growth, the company will employ its proprietary platform to discover novel classes of cancer immunotherapies and advance lead candidates toward the clinic.
These approaches include the following:
- The development of select immunomodulatory nanobodies, camelid-based antibodies, that can be deployed as Immunophage payloads or stand-alone therapeutics.
- The expansion of Sensei’s library based approach by engineering Immunophage targeting additional tumor associated antigens.
- The deployment of customized yet off-the-shelf Immunophage cocktail therapies targeting tumor associated antigens, neoantigens, and virally-based cancer antigens.
- A novel antibody-based approach to novel checkpoint inhibition and other methods of altering the tumor microenvironment toward anti-tumor immunity.
- Potential expansion of its therapeutic area focus into infectious diseases based on partnerships with Pharma companies and government entities.
FinSMEs
07/10/2020