Samsara BioCapital

Samsara BioCapital LLC is a private equity firm established in 2016 and located in Palo Alto, California. The firm specializes in investing in biotechnology companies across the United States, providing capital and strategic support to help advance innovations in the life sciences sector. Samsara BioCapital aims to identify and cultivate promising biotechnological advancements that can transform healthcare and improve patient outcomes.

Srini Akkaraju

Founder and Managing Partner

Abe Bassan

Principal

Michael Dybbs Ph.D

Partner

Cory Freedland

Partner

Past deals in Clinical Trials

ImmunOs Therapeutics

Series B in 2022
ImmunOs Therapeutics AG is a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Schlieren, Switzerland, founded in 2014. The company specializes in the discovery and development of novel human immunomodulatory proteins aimed at enhancing cancer treatment and addressing autoimmune diseases. By focusing on next-generation therapeutics, ImmunOs aims to create drugs that not only exhibit direct anti-tumor effects but also remodel the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, the company is developing antibodies designed to block the activation of specific HLA molecules associated with autoimmune conditions. Through its innovative approach, ImmunOs Therapeutics seeks to improve the lives of patients suffering from serious diseases.

Science 37

Post in 2021
Science 37 is making the promise of virtual trials the new reality. By engaging with patients from the comfort of their own home, the company provides access to patients who can never be reached by traditional site-based research models. Its virtual model has proven to enroll faster, retain patients at a higher rate, and reach a more representative patient population. Science 37 has conducted more virtual (or decentralized), interventional trials than any other company, using an expansive, in-house network of telemedicine investigators and home-health nurses. The company's research is powered by the industry’s most comprehensive, fully integrated clinical trial platform purpose-built to conduct virtual trials.

IO Biotech

Series B in 2021
IO Biotech ApS is a clinical stage biotech company developing disruptive immune therapies i.e. checkpoint/cancer vaccines. Checkpoint/cancer vaccines suppress the function of regulatory immune cells and induce inflammation in the microenvironment in addition to direct targeting of cancer cells.

Abcuro

Series A in 2021
Abcuro’s mission is to develop a new class of immune-modulatory bio-therapeutics for treating both autoimmunity and cancer. They leverage the systematic target validation and clinical insights gained by its founders to identify new targets. Their intensive use of bioinformatics to interrogate the transcriptome of human disease together with ex-vivo validation in diseased tissue has uncovered new approaches to target key compartments of the immune system. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Newton, Massachusetts.

Flame Biosciences

Venture Round in 2020
Flame Biosciences, Inc operates as a clinical stage company that engages in the research, development, and commercialization of transformative therapies for cancer and other inflammatory conditions. It offers FL-101 therapy for the treatment of lung cancers that are driven by inflammation; and FL-201 for reducing the chronic inflammation in patients. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is based in New York, New York.

Recursion Pharmaceuticals

Series D in 2020
Recursion Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company based in Salt Lake City. Recursion combines experimental biology, automation, and artificial intelligence in a massively parallel system to quickly and efficiently identify treatments for any disease which can be modeled at the cellular level. From its initial and continued focus on drug repurposing to treat rare diseases, Recursion has broadened its platform to probe rich data from high-throughput automated screens for a number of indications, including aging, inflammation, infectious disease, and immunology. Recursion is aggressively leveraging technology to build a robust and reliable map of human cellular biology, which will enable a radical shift in the pace and scale at which new treatments will benefit patients.

Rain Therapeutics

Series B in 2020
Rain Therapeutics Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing targeted therapies for cancer patients, particularly those with unmet medical needs. Established in 2017 and based in Newark, California, the company specializes in small molecule therapeutics. Its lead product, RAIN-32, is a small molecule MDM2 inhibitor aimed at treating well-differentiated and de-differentiated liposarcoma. Additionally, Rain Therapeutics is developing tarloxotinib, a hypoxia-activated pan-HER inhibitor currently undergoing clinical trials for non-small cell lung cancer. The company emphasizes identifying cancers driven by specific oncogenic mutations and evaluates sub-populations where existing treatment options are inadequate. Through collaboration with a global network of scientific and thought leaders, Rain Therapeutics seeks to align its therapeutic innovations with the needs of these cancer populations.

FORMA Therapeutics

Series D in 2019
Forma Therapeutics Holdings, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for treatment of rare hematologic diseases and cancers. Its core product candidates for development include FT-4202, which is Phase 1 trial for the treatment of sickle cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies; and FT-7051 for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The company is also developing FT-2102, an oral selective small molecule investigational agent that is designed to bind to and inhibit mutated IDH1 enzymes, which is being evaluated in a Phase 2 trial for relapsed/refractory AML, as well as an exploratory Phase 1 trial for glioma; and FT-4101 and FT-8225, which are selective fatty acid synthase inhibitors. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Sutro Biopharma

Series E in 2018
Sutro Biopharma is a clinical stage drug discovery, development, and manufacturing company. It is mainly engaged in the development of biopharmaceutical products. The company manufactures next-generation protein therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune disorders through its proprietary integrated cell-free protein synthesis platform, XpressCF. Products offered by the company include STRO-001 for patients with multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and STRO-002 for the treatment of ovarian and endometrial cancers.