Rgenta Therapeutics Completes Seed Financing, Raising $38 Million for RNA-Targeted Pipeline

Rare Daily Staff

Rgenta Therapeutics, which is focusing on developing RNA-targeted medicines for historically undruggable targets, said it closed an $18 million seed extension round, and welcomed Lilly Asia Venture and Vivo Capital as new investors to the syndicate.

“Small molecules targeting RNA regulation are an exciting new approach that can potentially unlock the therapeutic potentials of disease-causing genes that are undruggable at the protein level,” said Hongbo Lu, managing partner at Vivo Capital.

BIVF and Matrix Capital co-led the initial seed round of $20 million with other early investors in 2020. The financing will be used to pursue small molecules against a range of RNA targets for oncology and neurological diseases and will help accelerate Rgenta’s pipeline toward clinical development.

Rgenta Therapeutics is developing a pipeline of oral, small-molecule RNA-targeting medicines with an initial focus on oncology and neurological disorders. Its proprietary platform mines massive genomics data to identify targetable RNA processing events and design small-molecule glues to modulate the interactions among the spliceosome, regulatory proteins, and RNAs. The company believes its lead programs and unique approach will unlock the therapeutic potential of historically undruggable targets in human diseases.

Judith Li of Lilly Asia Venture and Vivo’s Lu will join Rgenta’s board of directors.

“We look forward to working with the LAV and Vivo teams as we advance our therapeutic programs into the clinic and bring innovative therapies to benefit patients,” said Simon Xi, co-founder and CEO of Rgenta Therapeutics.

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