There are moments in biotech when the math finally bows to the physics, and the physics finally agrees to behave like biology. PsiThera’s $47.5M Series A is one of those moments. Born inside Roivant Sciences in Aug 2022 as Psivant Therapeutics and now fully independent out of Watertown, Massachusetts, PsiThera did not show up chasing noise. This was a slow build, a deliberate separation, a platform sharpened long before it ever asked for institutional capital. When a company waits until 2025 to raise its first real round, that is not hesitation. That is conviction with data behind it.
At the center sits Dr. Woody Sherman, Founder and CIO, a name that carries real gravity in computational drug discovery. From Schrödinger to Silicon Therapeutics to Roivant Discovery, the QUAISAR platform was never designed for demos or buzzwords. It was built to understand proteins the way they actually move, flex, and expose opportunity in living systems. Quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, statistical thermodynamics, and machine learning fused into a system that does not guess. It explains. When PsiThera moves from hit to lead optimization in four months, that speed is not hype. That is physics doing what it does best when it is respected.
The capital followed clarity. Samsara BioCapital, led by Dr. Srinivas Akkaraju, and Lightstone Ventures, with Christina Isacson as Partner and Board Chair, did not fund a theory. They funded momentum. Roivant Sciences returned as an investor, because sometimes spinning out does not mean stepping away. YK Bioventures and Eurofarma Ventures joined a syndicate that understands where oral small molecules can go when biologics have owned the field for decades.
The focus is precise. TNF superfamily targets. Clinically validated, commercially massive, biologically stubborn. The global TNF inhibitor market sits north of $41B, built on injectables that work but ask patients to bend their lives around them. PsiThera is betting that oral small molecules, designed against biologically relevant protein states, can deliver efficacy without the needles. That bet gets sharper when simulations are grounded by HDX-MS, NMR, X-ray crystallography, Cryo-EM, and hundreds of GPUs per target.
Leadership matters when science accelerates. Eric Shaff stepped in as CEO in Dec 2025, bringing hard-earned experience from Seres Therapeutics and the first FDA approved oral microbiome therapy. Dr. Camil Sayegh, Jean-Christophe Harmange, and Kal Lapan round out a team that knows how to move programs, not just models. Roughly 30 people, moving fast, with lead program selection planned for 2026, is what disciplined ambition looks like.
PsiThera is not selling magic. It is selling understanding. Understanding of proteins in motion, of markets demanding oral solutions, of timing that rewards patience. This Series A is not a starting gun. It is the bass line you feel once the room is already moving, and suddenly everyone understands why.
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