Who We Are

An Australian-founded biotechnology company

SofiaSante is an Australian-founded biotechnology company developing next-generation therapeutic and delivery platforms for obesity, metabolic disease, and oncology supportive care.

Our work is focused on four development pillars: a lead non-GLP-1 obesity therapeutic, a transdermal delivery platform for obesity therapeutics, novel half-life extension approaches, and adjunct oncology conjugates designed to improve the therapeutic environment for established cancer treatments.

SofiaSante combines rational peptide design, in-silico optimisation, preclinical development planning, delivery science, and translational partnerships to build differentiated therapeutic assets through a disciplined, milestone-driven development path.

Efficacy

A lead program designed with the aim of competitive weight-loss efficacy, subject to experimental validation.

Tolerability

A design philosophy that treats tolerability and usability as central to the next advance in obesity medicine.

Durability & convenience

Longer duration of action and patient-friendly delivery for sustained, real-world treatment performance.

What we are seeking to achieve

SofiaSante aims to build a differentiated obesity and metabolic therapeutics platform that can pursue meaningful weight loss without relying on GLP-1 receptor agonism, while also considering lean mass preservation as an important goal for long-term metabolic health.

The current obesity treatment landscape has been transformed by GLP-1-based medicines. However, tolerability remains one of the major real-world impediments for a subset of patients, where treatment-limiting side effects can interfere with dose escalation, long-term adherence, and persistence on therapy. SofiaSante is designing its lead program around the view that the next major advance in obesity medicine should improve not only weight loss, but also lean mass preservation and long-term usability.

Message from the CEO

Berk Toluk, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SofiaSante — Berk Toluk

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

SofiaSante began with a simple question: how much better could treatment for metabolic disorders be if it were easier to tolerate? The first generation of these medicines, now dominated by GLP-1 receptor agonists, has transformed care, yet for many patients tolerability remains a real barrier to staying on therapy. My sister, Mel Toluk, and I set out to push the limits of that first generation, and to design therapeutics that people can actually stay on.

It was only when I brought an alternative paradigm to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and to pre-eminent academics at the University of Adelaide, who advised that the concept was highly feasible, that SofiaSante began to take shape. A 2025 KickStart grant from the CSIRO then paved the way for the company's inception.

Today we are a small and determined team, combining rational peptide design, advanced delivery, and international collaboration to turn early science into medicines that reach the people who need them. We hold ourselves to a simple standard: a therapeutic is only as valuable as a patient's ability to keep taking it.

Thank you for your interest in SofiaSante. Whether you are a researcher, a partner, an investor, or simply curious about what comes next in metabolic medicine, I invite you to explore our work and to join us on this journey.

Berk Toluk
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

About the Chief Executive

Berk Toluk is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of SofiaSante and the originator of the science behind the company. A commercial lawyer by background, with experience in translational research, he works where law, science, and clinical translation meet. He has managed scientific teams to develop new technologies, has previously patented next-generation construction systems, and brings extensive experience in commercialisation. He co-founded SofiaSante with his sister, Mel Toluk, a pharmacist, and leads the company's strategy and scientific direction.