Senti Biosciences develops next‑generation cell and gene therapies using a proprietary Gene Circuit platform to create therapies with enhanced precision and control. Its wholly owned pipeline utilizes off‑the‑shelf chimeric antigen receptor natural killer (CAR‑NK) cells outfitted with Gene Circuits to target challenging liquid and solid tumors. SENTI‑202 is a potential first‑in‑class Logic Gated off‑the‑shelf CAR‑NK product candidate designed to selectively target CD33 and/or FLT3 expressing hematologic malignancies while sparing healthy bone marrow cells, combining OR and NOT gates plus calibrated‑release IL‑15 technology. The Phase 1 dose‑finding trial of SENTI‑202 is ongoing, enrolling adult patients with relapsed/refractory CD33 and/or FLT3 expressing hematologic malignancies at sites in the United States and Australia. Initial efficacy data from the trial is anticipated by year‑end 2024, with initial durability data expected in 2025. Financially, Senti Bio announced an $8 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicines to support SENTI‑202 clinical development; the company is publicly listed (Nasdaq: SNTI) and has partnerships with Spark Therapeutics and BlueRock Therapeutics. Senti Bio engineers proprietary gene circuits to program cell and gene therapies, using off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor natural killer (CAR-NK) cells outfitted with these circuits. Its lead programs include SENTI-202, an OR+NOT logic-gated CAR-NK candidate for acute myeloid leukemia, and SENTI-301, a multi-armed CAR-NK candidate for hepatocellular carcinoma. The company plans to file Investigational New Drug (IND) applications for both candidates in 2023 and has presented preclinical proof-of-concept data at ASGCT, AACR and ASH. Senti Bio has executed partnerships with Spark Therapeutics and BlueRock Therapeutics to advance its platform beyond oncology. The company is based in South San Francisco, Calif., and emphasizes programmable biological logic to improve therapeutic precision, durability and safety. Senti Biosciences uses synthetic biology to engineer gene circuits that program cells to sense their environment, perform logic, and produce therapeutic functions for improved cell- and gene-based medicines. Its proprietary platform includes logic gates, small-molecule regulators, combinatorial payloads and synthetic promoters, and the team has designed, built and tested thousands of gene circuits. Senti Bio is building an internal pipeline focused on next-generation allogeneic CAR-NK cell therapies, with lead candidates SENTI-202 for acute myeloid leukemia and SENTI-301 for hepatocellular carcinoma, plus additional undisclosed solid-tumor targets. The platform is intended to be deployable across multiple delivery modalities and therapeutic areas, including immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular disease, regenerative medicine and genetic diseases. Proceeds from a recent financing will support preclinical oncology programs, IND-enabling studies (planned in 2021), expansion of the gene circuit platform into additional modalities, and scaling clinical manufacturing including process development and design of a cGMP-compliant facility for off-the-shelf CAR-NK products. The company communicated the financing in a release citing South San Francisco, Calif., and Leverkusen, Germany. Senti Biosciences develops programmable genetic circuits inserted into human-derived cells to create adaptive therapies that sense, respond to, and be controlled within localized disease environments. The company’s first therapeutic focus is cancer, where engineered cells are designed to locate tumors and selectively trigger an immune response after IV infusion. Senti bases its approach on decades of academic research and on gene‑editing technologies like CRISPR to write new “software” for cellular behavior. The team was assembled from leading labs (MIT, Wyss Institute, MD Anderson, Boston University, ETH Zurich, and others) during three years in stealth. Senti intends to develop therapies tailored to individual biology and to partner with other companies to address additional diseases. The company recently completed a major financing to support these efforts.

Total raised

$171M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Grant

Latest activity

Jul 2024