RougeTx, a Netherlands-based preclinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class disease-modifying therapies that target pericyte dysfunction to restore vascular integrity, has launched with a US$58m Series A financing co-led by founding investor BioGeneration Ventures (BGV), Angelini Ventures, together with the EIB’s Aurea co-investment facility, and Kurma Partners, with further participation from Epidarex Capital, Vesalius Biocapital Partners, ROM Utrecht Region, p53 Invest, and Kerna Ventures.
RougeTx is a spin-off from Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), building on more than 20 years of vascular biology research originally conducted at Inserm. The company is developing small-molecule therapies designed to restore pericyte attachment and stabilise fragile blood vessels in diseases driven by vascular instability.
The financing will advance RTX-001, RougeTx’s lead programme, toward first-in-human clinical development for hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT).
“The data we have generated for RTX-001 gives us a strong foundation as we move toward the clinic,” said Andrew Lightfoot, CEO at RougeTx. “This financing also allows us to explore where the same biology may impact other vascular diseases.”
In connection with the financing, Edward van Wezel, managing partner at BGV; Regina Hodits, managing director at Angelini Ventures; Hadrien Bouchez, partner at Kurma Partners; Elizabeth Roper, managing partner at Epidarex Capital; and Stéphane Verdood, managing partner at Vesalius Biocapital Partners, will join RougeTx’s board alongside existing directors.
