DaRui Bio Secures $33 Million Series A Financing to Advance Global Nucleic Acid Therapeutics

- Financing from multiple long-term investors helps build a leading delivery platform and an extensible drug R&D engine to enable and accelerate the development of modular and programmable drugs.

-The company will leverage the tremendous biological potential of nucleic acid drugs to develop more specific, stable, and long-acting delivery platforms targeting both liver-directed and non-liver-directed applications.

Shanghai, April 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Rona Therapeutics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. ("Rona Therapeutics"), a platform company focused on the research, development, and production of nucleic acid drugs, announced the successful completion of a US$33 million Series A financing round to advance the establishment of its proprietary delivery platform and the development of its drug pipeline. This round of financing received support from several top-tier blue-chip biopharmaceutical investment institutions, including Lilly Asia Ventures, China Merchant Bank International Capital Management (Shenzhen) Ltd., Platanus, FUNG & CHUEN CAPITAL PTY LIMITED, and Lan Ting Shanghai Investment Management Ltd.

Rona Therapeutics was founded in 2021 with the aim of establishing its own platform to develop innovative and disruptive nucleic acid drugs, providing high specificity, stability, and long-acting properties to therapeutics. Leveraging its proprietary delivery platform, Rona Therapeutics develops nucleic acid drugs through a modular and programmable research and development approach, primarily targeting disease areas such as metabolism, central nervous system, ophthalmology, and oncology. The company is building a state-of-the-art R&D facility system equipped with cutting-edge technology to expand capabilities in nucleic acid synthesis, delivery platforms, oligonucleotide chemical modifications, nucleic acid biology, bioinformatics, and technology-driven nucleic acid production and manufacturing, ultimately realizing the exceptional potential of nucleic acid therapeutics.

"We sincerely thank the strong support from leading investors in the life sciences field who participated in this round of financing. Technological breakthroughs at the nucleic acid level will undoubtedly bring about a revolutionary wave of new drugs in this era," said Stella SHI, CEO and co-founder of Rona Therapeutics. "We look forward to collaborating with our partners and investors for mutual success. Rona Therapeutics' vision is to transform this powerful technology into medicines and treatments that benefit more patients."

"Since its establishment, Rona Therapeutics has made significant progress in building a delivery platform and advancing drug development into clinical stages. The company is focused on establishing a scalable platform and a high-potential pipeline, positioning itself as highly likely to become a leader in the nucleic acid field in the future," said Professor Chuan He, scientific advisor of Rona Therapeutics.

"Building on decades of exploratory work in the industry on decoding nucleic acid drugs, Rona Therapeutics is standing on the shoulders of giants to discover and develop transformative medicines and grow into a new giant," said Dr. Roberto Guerciolini, scientific advisor to Rona Therapeutics.