Arrakis Therapeutics Secures $75 Million Series B Financing to Advance RNA-Targeted Therapeutics Platform

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) learned from foreign media that on April 18 (U.S. local time), biopharmaceutical company Arrakis Therapeutics completed a $75 million Series B financing round. The funds raised in this round will be used to advance the development of the company’s RNA bioinformatics integration platform for the discovery of RNA-targeted therapeutics to treat cancer and other diseases.

It is reported that this round of financing was co-led by venBio Partners and NeXTech Invest. In addition, Arrakis Therapeutics has expanded the size of its board of directors, with Richard Gaster, CEO of venBio Partners, and Jakob Loven, Partner at NeXTech Invest, joining the board of directors of Arrakis Therapeutics.

Arrakis Therapeutics, established in 2015, is a biopharmaceutical company. Collaborating with specialized medical teams, the company has pioneered a novel therapeutic concept: treating diseases caused by RNA dysregulation through targeted therapies. Currently, its drug pipeline primarily focuses on oncology, tumors, and genetic disorders, with a key advantage being the potential to treat complex and refractory conditions that remain incurable in current medical practice.

Arrakis Therapeutics’ RSM platform is primarily designed to integrate medical information related to human RNA, such as RNA bioinformatics and RNA-specific data. By systematically integrating RNA information, the platform enables medical teams to search for relevant data based on RNA alterations associated with different diseases, thereby facilitating the development of corresponding RNA-targeted therapeutics. To date, the platform has compiled data on hundreds of RNA targets, supporting the research and development of dozens of RNA-targeted drug candidates.

Currently, the sole obstacle in the development of RNA-targeted therapeutics is the inherent dynamics and foldability of RNA molecules. Although drugs can reach the target RNA, the continuous motion of the pathogenic molecular regions and the folded state of the entire RNA chain may cause the targeted drug to disrupt normal molecular regions while failing to cure the pathogenic genes. The primary drug experiments currently conducted by Arrakis Therapeutics aim to precisely disrupt the pathogenic molecular regions while ensuring that the targeted drug reaches the target RNA.

Dr. Gilman, a member of the Board of Directors at Arrakis Therapeutics, stated, “We are grateful for the support from our new investors. This financing will help us further develop our RSM platform and accelerate the development of RNA-targeted therapeutics. The company has already achieved breakthrough progress in RNA research; we can predict and clinically validate the structures of target RNAs, identify druggable molecular regions, and enable our medical team to develop targeted therapies. This approach offers high precision and safety, and related research findings are expected to reach the market soon.”

“RNA information integration technology is an emerging field in healthcare, and Arrakis Therapeutics is a leader in this space. We are delighted to partner with them to jointly explore new drug markets,” said Richard Gaster, CEO of venBio Partners.

“Currently, there is strong demand in the pharmaceutical market for highly efficacious and well-tolerated drugs. We recognize the demand within the RNA therapeutics market, as well as the current technological gaps. Through our collaboration with Arrakis Therapeutics, we aim to bring RNA-based drugs to market,” said Dr. Jakob Loven, Partner at NeXTech Invest.

venBio Partners is a private equity investment firm that primarily invests in the early and growth stages of startups. In addition to providing financial support to emerging companies, venBio Partners collaborates with professional management teams to assist entrepreneurs in managing their portfolio companies.

NeXTech Invest, established in 1998 and headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, is a private equity and venture capital firm. Its investment portfolio focuses on the biopharmaceutical, healthcare, and biotechnology sectors, targeting companies at early, mid, and late stages of development. The firm’s geographic investment scope includes Africa, Asia, North America, and European countries such as Switzerland and Germany. NeXTech Invest is committed to advancing animal clinical trials to monitor drug efficacy and compatibility.

(Compiled by Liu Yujing)