Ceptur Therapeutics Launches with $75 Million to Advance Novel RNA Therapeutics

Ceptur Therapeutics completed a $75 million series A financing to advance targeted oligonucleotide therapeutics, based on U1 Adaptor technology, for genetic diseases.

Photo: Peter Ghoroghchian, co-founder, president, and CEO of Ceptur Therapeutics

venBio Partners and Qiming Venture Partners USA co-led the financing with participation by new investors Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Janus Henderson Investors, along with existing seed investors Affinity Asset Advisors, Boxer Capital, and LifeSci Venture Partners.

Ceptur believes its use of synthetic oligonucleotides that engage U1 snRNP offers the ability to co-opt this master regulator of the transcriptome to regulate mRNA in a highly targeted fashion.

U1 Adaptors are bivalent oligonucleotides that engage sequence-specific mRNA and the U1 small nuclear ribonuclear protein (U1 snRNP), which is a ubiquitous intracellular machine that regulates transcription and splicing. U1 Adaptor therapeutics control gene expression at the pre-mRNA level within the nucleus, affording advantageous properties for drugging difficult targets.

In 2021, Ceptur in-licensed and internally expanded its foundational IP portfolio on U1 Adaptor technology and recruited a scientific advisory board comprised of academic and industry leaders in oligonucleotide therapeutics.

Ceptur will use the proceeds of the financing to advance its broad discovery pipeline of differentiated genetic medicines, said Peter Ghoroghchian, co-founder, president, and CEO of Ceptur Therapeutics.

“Therapeutic approaches that target RNA have become an essential treatment modality for patients with genetic diseases and a priority for many biopharma companies,” said Aaron Royston, managing partner at venBio Partners. “We believe that the U1 Adaptor technology is a differentiated approach to RNA regulation that has multiple potential advantages over current technologies.”

With this financing, Aaron Royston and Colin Walsh, partner at Qiming Venture Partners USA, will join Ceptur’s Board of Directors.

Author: Rare Daily Staff