Ractigen Therapeutics Lands ￥110M Series A Funding

(VCBeat) Feb. 11, 2021 -- Ractigen Therapeutics, Inc. ("Ractigen Therapeutics") today announced that it has closed a ￥110 million Series A financing, led by GL Ventures, with participation from CCB Medical Growth Fund, Boyi Capital and Longman Capital. The funds raised will mainly be used for R&D, team expansion and IND application of several new drugs in the preclinical stage.

As a new gene therapy, small activating RNA (saRNA) drugs can activate the gene expression at the transcriptional level through RNA activation mechanisms, so as to increase protein expression to treat various diseases caused by protein deletion or low expression, including single-gene disorders and common diseases caused by non-gene variation. RNA activation (RNAa) is a biological mechanism that was first discovered and named by Dr. Li Longcheng, founder of Ractigen Therapeutics, in 2006.

Founded in 2017 in Nantong, Jiangsu Province by Dr. Li Longcheng and Dr. Robert Place and Dr. Moorim Kang, members of Dr. Li's former laboratory team, Ractigen Therapeutics is focused on developing and commercializing RNAa technologies for the global market. Since its establishment, the company has developed new drugs for single-gene disorders and a new generation of RNAa technology and small nucleic acid delivery technology.

At present, Ractigen Therapeutics has established the world's leading RNAa drug discovery and development platform and a pipeline containing more than 10 new drugs in R&D with independent intellectual property rights, covering the treatments of single-gene disorders, tumors, diseases of metabolism and blood circulatory system caused by the abnormal liver, skin diseases and so on.

GL Ventures was set up by private equity heavyweight Hillhouse Capital to invest in emerging startups in February 2020. GL Ventures focuses on four areas: biomedicine and medical devices, software services and initiatives in tech innovations, consumer internet and technology, and emerging consumer brands and services.

CCB Medical Growth Fund is a venture capital fund of CCB International, focusing on the investment of medical enterprises in growth stage. The fund is led by CCB International and jointly initiated by Kunshan High-tech Group and other leading investors, with a first-phase fund of 500 million yuan.