RougeTx has raised $58 million in Series A financing to advance RTX-001, a potential once-daily oral treatment for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), toward first-in-human clinical development. The financing was co-led by founding investor BioGeneration Ventures (BGV), Angelini Ventures and Kurma Partners, alongside the European Investment Bank co-investment facility Aurea. Epidarex Capital, Vesalius Biocapital Partners, ROM Utrecht Region, p53 Invest and Kerna Ventures also participated.
Based in Naarden, the Netherlands, RougeTx is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class disease-modifying therapies designed to restore vascular integrity by targeting pericyte dysfunction.
Its lead program, RTX-001, is being developed for HHT, the second most common inherited bleeding disorder. HHT is caused by abnormal blood vessel formation known as arteriovenous malformations, or AVMs, which can result in recurrent nosebleeds and gastrointestinal bleeding, iron deficiency, chronic anemia and potentially serious complications involving major organs.
There are currently no approved therapies for HHT, leaving patients largely dependent on supportive care and off-label treatments.
RTX-001 is designed to address an underlying aspect of the disease by stabilizing fragile blood vessels through the restoration of pericyte attachment. RougeTx said the preclinical data generated for the program provides a foundation for moving the drug candidate toward clinical testing.
The Series A financing will also support broader development of RougeTx’s periSCOPE platform, which applies the company’s understanding of vascular biology to identify potential therapies for additional diseases characterized by vascular instability.
RougeTx intends to use the platform to build a pipeline of small-molecule therapies based on common biological mechanisms associated with unstable blood vessels.
The company’s approach is rooted in more than two decades of research led by co-founder and scientific advisor Franck Lebrin. That work began at Inserm and continued over the past decade in Lebrin’s laboratory at Leiden University Medical Center.
Beyond developing RTX-001 for HHT, RougeTx plans to explore whether the same biology involved in pericyte dysfunction and vascular instability could provide therapeutic opportunities across other vascular diseases.
The financing also brings several new investors into RougeTx’s governance structure.
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 of Directors alongside the company’s existing directors.
KEY QUOTES:
“RTX-001 is designed to stabilize fragile blood vessels by restoring pericyte attachment. The data we have generated for RTX-001 gives us a strong foundation as we move toward the clinic. This financing also allows us to explore where the same biology may impact other vascular diseases,”
Andrew Lightfoot, Chief Executive Officer at RougeTx
“RougeTx represents the culmination of more than 20 years of research, initially at Inserm and over the past decade in my laboratory at Leiden University Medical Center. I am excited by the opportunity to bring a novel treatment to the HHT community.”
Franck Lebrin, Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor at RougeTx
“For too long, people living with HHT have faced a serious, lifelong disease with no approved treatment options. RougeTx was founded with a commitment to this community and a belief that advances in vascular biology can finally make a meaningful difference for patients and families. We are grateful to our investors for their support and shared commitment to our mission.”
Sandra Glucksmann, Executive Chair at RougeTx
