Samsara Therapeutics

Samsara Therapeutics is a biotech company aiming to develop therapeutics targeting age-related diseases. It is currently developing a method of restoring autophagy in diseased cells. 

The company is focusing on an unbiased approach (by measuring as many diverse molecules as possible) to therapeutic discovery, prioritizing diseases and models of disease with a strong genetic basis to help discover potential medicines.

Samsara Therapeutics is mainly focused on diseases with a gain or loss of function mutation, which usually produces a cytotoxic protein that gives rise to dysfunctional autophagy and can be cleared by restoring autophagy to the cell.  

Its Lysoseeker Platform is a data-driven approach that starts with an unbiased phenotypic screen and uses proprietary technologies, including machine learning, to understand the mechanisms and targets of the autophagy-inducing molecules we identify. The company is intending to use its technology to address areas such as neurodegenerative diseases and rare monogenic disease. Its product pipeline was in preclinical stages as of October 2023.

Funds and financials

Samsara Therapeutics completed its USD 3.2 million seed round in December 2019. This followed the initial pre-seed investment of an undisclosed amount by Apollo Health Ventures toward the end of 2018.

In May 2023, Samsara Therapeutics received a grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research to further its research into a promising Parkinson’s disease drug. Research shows that Samsara’s autophagy-inducing agent, SAM0021, is able to remove the build-up of alpha-synuclein in cells that can lead to Parkinson’s and restore some of the motor functions affected by the disease.