Germany-based RNA therapeutics developer Rigontec closed a series A round featuring Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, at €29.3m ($32.7m) today.
The additional €15m was provided for the round’s third close by Boehringer Ingelheim as well as existing backers High-Tech Gruenderfonds (HTGF), Forbion Capital Partners, NRW.Bank, MP Healthcare Venture Management, Sunstone Capital and Wellington Partners Life Sciences.
Rigontec is working on synthetic ligands of an immune system receptor called RIG-I that is capable of recognising viral RNA, facilitating the destruction of diseased cells. It was spun out of University of Bonn’s Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology in January 2014.
The company is targeting cancer, infectious and inflammatory diseases, and the cash will support the advance of its lead candidate, RGT100, toward clinical studies.
Christian Schetter, CEO of Rigontec, said: “This funding puts us in a great position to further expand our RIG-I targeting preclinical pipeline and propel our first program into the clinic by early 2017. It also emphasises the unique and innovative potential our technology holds.”
The round’s €9.45m first close took place in October 2014 and was co-led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Wellington Partners, before the company raised an additional €4.8m for its second close in March 2015.