Rinri Therapeutics Secures £1.4M Seed Funding to Advance Regenerative Cell Therapy for Sensorineural Hearing Loss

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) has learned that biotechnology company Rinri Therapeutics announced on May 20 the completion of a £1.4 million seed funding round. The round was co-led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and UCB Ventures, with participation from BioCity Group.

Following this round of financing, Dr. Detlev Mennerich, Investment Director of the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund; Dr. Erica Whittaker, Director of UCB Ventures; and Dr. Claire Brown, Investment Director at BioCity, will join the Board of Directors of Rinri Therapeutics.

Rinri Therapeutics is a private biotechnology company founded in 2018 in Sheffield, Massachusetts, USA. The company is dedicated to the research and development of novel regenerative cell therapies for the treatment of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). The funds from this financing round will be used to advance the R&D of its novel regenerative cell therapies.

More than 90% of disabling hearing loss is caused by damage to the specialized nerve cells or hair cells in the inner ear, a condition known as sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). In addition to natural aging, noise exposure, diseases, medications, genetic factors, or trauma can also cause damage to these specialized inner ear cells. Once damaged, these cells cannot regenerate, meaning that SNHL is irreversible.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 5% of the global population currently suffers from hearing loss. In the United States, there are approximately 64 million patients with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL); in Europe, there are approximately 34 million SNHL patients. Currently, there are no pharmacological treatments available for SNHL.

Rinri Therapeutics aims to reverse SNHL by repairing damaged inner ear cell structures. The company’s foundational technology stems from the pioneering research of Professor Marcelo Rivolta at the University of Sheffield, a leader in the field of sensory stem cell biology.

Concurrent with the completion of this financing round, Rinri Therapeutics announced the appointment of Dr. Simon Chandler as its Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Chandler holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology. Over the past four years, he has been with IP Group, where he was responsible for early-stage investments and company building within the UK university life sciences division.

Dr. Chandler stated, “I am delighted that the Board of Directors has invited me to guide Rinri Therapeutics. We are striving to advance our preclinical programs into clinical trials, with the aim of providing effective treatments for patients with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL).”

Dr. Mennerich, Investment Director at Boehringer Ingelheim, stated, “For many years, we have been closely following the groundbreaking research published by Professor Marcelo Rivolta in Nature. We are delighted to collaborate with Rinri Therapeutics to help translate Professor Rivolta’s foundational technology into effective treatments for SNHL.”

Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund is a German venture capital fund established in 1973. The firm primarily invests in pioneering therapies and technologies in the healthcare sector.

UCB Ventures is a strategic corporate venture fund managing €150 million, established in 2017 to invest in early-stage innovative therapies and technology platforms.

BioCity Group, established in 2002, is a corporate incubator focused on startups in the life sciences sector.

(Compiled by Wang Yi)