Ractigen Therapeutics closes an additional $30 million in Series A+ funding to push development of its RNAa platform


    NANTONG, China, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ractigen Therapeutics, a pioneer of the RNAa technology, today announced the closing of a Series A+ financing round totaling $30 million led by SDIC Venture Capital with participation from Eisai Co., Ltd., LC Ventures, CSSD Capital, and Xianghe Capital. This latest round comes on the heels of a $18 million Series A investment in February 2021. Ractigen will use this capital to advance several programs from preclinical to clinical phase, as well as scale-up its oligonucleotide manufacturing capabilities.

    "We feel fortunate to have attracted the support of well-respected investors from within and outside of China." said Dr. Long-Cheng Li, Chief Executive Officer of Ractigen Therapeutics. "Our mission at Ractigen Therapeutics is to offer a practical solution to combat disease caused by insufficient protein levels using saRNA to restore target gene expression. These new funds will allow us to continue development of our lead saRNA drug candidates into the clinic."

    "RNAa is a one of the few technologies that allows for targeted activation of endogenous gene expression. This technology has broad application for the treatment of many genetic disorders. Ractigen Therapeutics has built a diverse pipeline containing programs covering monogenic diseases, oncology, and liver-related indications. In addition, the company has already established collaborations and partnerships with international pharmaceutical companies." said a Director of SDIC-VC. "We are very optimistic about the potential of Ractigen Therapeutics and expect major breakthroughs in the near future as they advance their drug candidates into patients." 

    "LC Ventures has long been interested in cutting-edge technologies in the oligonucleotide space. Having been responsible for the discovery of RNAa, the founding team at Ractigen Therapeutics have unparalleled expertise and technical know-how. Along with their SCAD delivery platform and dominant IP portfolio, Ractigen is positioned to be globally competitive in this field." said Mr. Leo Sun, Managing Partner at LC Ventures. "We are very optimistic about the company's saRNA drug programs and look forward to working with Ractigen to bring their therapies to market."

    About Ractigen Therapeutics

    Ractigen Therapeutics was founded in 2017 by pioneers of the RNAa technology including Dr. Long-Cheng Li and his longstanding colleagues Dr. Robert Place and Dr. Moorim Kang. Ractigen is a late-stage preclinical pharmaceutical company devoted to creating groundbreaking therapies based on the RNAa platform. RNAa utilizes short duplex RNAs, known as small activating RNAs (saRNA), to specifically up-regulate targeted endogenous genes for boosting therapeutic protein production. Supporting its core platform, Ractigen Therapeutics has created the SCAD delivery system allowing enhanced biodistribution throughout extrahepatic tissue and built a rich pipeline of first-in-class candidate medicines for patients with unmet genetic disorders.

    Ractigen Therapeutics
    www.ractigen.com

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