Sana Biotechnology · Science storytelling
Two one-minute mechanism films let a non-specialist grasp and repeat the science. Sana uses both across its S-1, investor engagements, and website.
Context
Sana is reprogramming or replacing damaged cells and tissues to treat a broad range of diseases. Two platforms carry the work.
Ex vivo · Hypoimmune (HIP)
Differentiates stem cells into clinically needed cell types and hides them from the immune system.
In vivo · Fusogen
Engineers fusosomes that bind specific cells to deliver complex biologic payloads.
The challenge
Sana needed investors and partners to understand two distinct mechanisms fast, across an S-1, investor meetings, and the website, without diluting the science to do it.
Attention was measured in seconds. The science had to stay accurate under expert scrutiny while staying legible to people who are not cell biologists.
The film
Hypoimmune (HIP) platform
Colour and lighting separate genetically modified cells from natural ones, so the mechanism reads at a glance.
In vivo Fusogen platform
Animation rigs built from real molecular-structure data, so the binding event holds up to expert scrutiny.
The craft
We began by translating the platforms into simplified diagrams for the S-1 and investor engagements, then built two one-minute 3D mechanism-of-action films, one per platform.
PhD science writers and certified medical animators read the primary literature and built with Sana's subject-matter experts, so each script balanced on-screen visuals against voice-over and held its mechanism to the critical beats.
An accessible visual system carried it: a custom library of 3D assets, materials, and lighting that kept both films coherent and on-brand.
“We could not be happier with the visually compelling way Cognition captured our In Vivo Fusogen Platform.”
Jagesh Shah, PhD
VP Gene Therapy Technologies, Sana Biotechnology
The build
Outcome
Two mechanisms most audiences would never parse became a minute each. Sana uses both platform overviews to drive engagement across its website, presentations, and investor materials.
Accolades
The takeaway
When a platform is the asset, legibility is leverage.
A mechanism an investor can hold in sixty seconds is one they can repeat in the room where the decision gets made.
