Rampart Bioscience – a biotechnology company developing next-generation biologics – announced today an $85 million Series A financing to create medicines to unburden patients from disease and their treatments. And the new funding builds on an initial $40 million seed investment from OrbiMed. Rampart’s proprietary DNA-based medicines platform (called HALO) was inspired and developed using natural cues to overcome the fundamental limitations and safety concerns of viral and early non-viral gene approaches.
Rampart’s proprietary HALO platform was designed to produce highly potent, durable, and redosable therapies. And the company’s lead program is for treating hypophosphatasia (HPP), a rare and often fatal genetic disease that prevents bone mineralization. Plus, Rampart has additional development programs.
Rampart’s executive management team has over seven decades of collective biotechnology experience, including a significant focus on developing gene and cell-based therapies. Breton and Dr. Bartlett also previously worked together at gene and cell therapy company Calimmune, which Breton co-founded and was acquired by CSL Behring in 2017. And Rampart’s team of founders also includes Robert Heft, Ph.D., who led the development of the only approved therapy for HPP as CEO of Enobia, which was also backed by OrbiMed and was acquired by Alexion in 2012. Dr. Bonita previously served on the board of Enobia.
Plus, Breton, Dr. Bonita, and Dr. Heft, Rampart’s Board of Directors also includes Evan Caplan, M.D., Principal at original investor OrbiMed. In connection with the Series A financing, Dmitrij Hristodorov, Ph.D., Partner at Forbion; Matthew Hammond, Ph.D., MBA, Principal at RA Capital; and Carl Kilander, M.D., Ph.D., Partner at HealthCap have joined the Board.
KEY QUOTES:
“There remains a significant gap to bridge technological progress with patient benefit. The Rampart team has tremendous heart and a fierce commitment to reshaping the treatment landscape for those in dire need of better options. Our vision is to liberate patients and their families from the hardships of their disease by creating efficacious medicines that are within their reach and at costs that don’t break the system.”
— Louis Breton, Rampart Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Board Director
“Rampart’s DNA medicines contain novel structural elements that drive nuclear trafficking and retention while avoiding immune responses. We believe this discovery holds the key to overcoming the significant potency and durability challenges still facing predecessor approaches that are capable of reaching certain therapeutic cell types but are not eliciting robust or durable therapeutic effect.”
— Jeffrey Bartlett, Ph.D., Rampart Co-founder and Chief Innovation and Technical Officer
“We are proud to have supported Rampart since inception. The team’s relentlessness in their pursuit of better options for patients is as big a differentiator as their technology. Drug development that translates into transformative treatment options that improve outcomes for patients and their families is full of twists and turns, and Rampart has the steadfast leaders and multidisciplinary innovators needed to complete the journey.”
— David Bonita, M.D., General Partner at OrbiMed and Co-founder and Chairman of Rampart
“Rampart has assembled an impressive team with a shared patients-first mindset to embark on an ambitious mission that has the potential to transform the genetic medicine space. We’re excited to stand with the company as it further develops its platform and advances innovative therapeutic candidates toward the clinic.”
— Dmitrij Hristodorov, Ph.D., Partner at Forbion
