Rgenta Raises $52 Million to develop RNA Targeting Medicines

Rgenta Therapeutics closed a $52 million series A financing round to develop RNA targeting medicines for historically undruggable disease targets including oncology and neuroscience rare diseases.

AZ-CICC Healthcare Investment Fund, a private equity fund jointly initiated by AstraZeneca and CICC Capital (China International Capital Corporation), led the financing with participation from all existing investors and new investors including Korean Investment Partners and Delos Capital.

Rgenta has an integrative discovery platform that analyzes massive amounts of human genomics data to identify regulatory sites in RNAs amenable for selective modulation by small molecules, and then rapidly screen for drug-like small molecules to target RNAs and thereby regulate protein production or alter protein functions. The company plans to use the new funding to speed up the development of the lead programs, enhance target discovery, extend platform capabilities, and advance a pipeline of RNA targeting programs against a range of disease indications.

“We have made significant progress and with this financing we are now well placed to establish an exciting pipeline and move our current programs into the clinic and develop innovative RNA targeting therapies to benefit patients,” said Simon Xi, co-founder and CEO of Rgenta.

Rgenta was seeded by a strong syndicate of lead investors including Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Matrix Partners China, Lilly Asia Venture and Vivo Capital. The addition of AZ-CICC Healthcare Investment Fund and the new Series A investors further expand Rgenta’s strong investor base and enables further development for the company’s oncology and neurology programs.

“We have been very interested in the RNA-targeting field for quite a while and are very impressed with the unique capabilities Rgenta has built over the last few years to discover and develop RNA-targeting small molecules and the progress they have made on the lead programs,” said Chen Bing, managing director of AZ-CICC Healthcare Investment Fund, vice president of AstraZeneca China, and head of Business Development. “Rgenta is well-positioned to unlock the therapeutic potentials of targeting RNA and RNA regulations.”

Photo: Simon Xi, co-founder and CEO of Rgenta.

Author: Rare Daily Staff