Life sciences VC firm Flagship Pioneering has unveiled a new company called Sonata Therapeutics to develop cell signaling therapies for oncology, fibrosis and autoimmune disorders.
Flagship founded Sonata this year by combining two of the VC’s existing ventures: Inzen Therapeutics and Cygnal Therapeutics. It means the new biotech already has a pipeline that includes six preclinical programs targeting a broad range of oncologic indications as well as exploratory efforts in fibrosis and autoimmune disorders.
The biotech is led by former Inzen CEO Volker Herrmann, M.D. Cygnal’s CEO, Pearl Huang, Ph.D., recently announced her departure from the company to pursue new opportunities.
“Sonata is taking an exciting and innovative approach to unlocking the enormous value potential of the cellular microenvironment,” said Doug Cole, M.D., managing partner at Flagship and chairman of Sonata’s board of directors. “It has the scale, technology and team to translate the longstanding promise of the microenvironment into therapeutics that help patients with serious diseases.”
Sonata’s product platform creates drugs based on a “systematic, comprehensive characterization of the microenvironment in diseases with high unmet medical need,” according to a May 18 statement from Flagship.
Sonata is well funded and has a substantial cash runway to reach its next key inflection points while the biotech continues to build momentum, Flagship told Fierce Biotech. However, the company was tight-lipped on whether it would invest further in Sonata itself, stating that the biotech is not looking to raise any funds in the near term.
Flagship has more than 100 scientific ventures under its belt since launching in 2000, currently boasting a bioplatform portfolio of 41 companies including Moderna, Foghorn Therapeutics, Axcella Therapeutics and Sana Biotechnology.