Press Release
4BIO Capital Leads $6 Million Seed Financing in Ray Therapeutics
4 January 2022
LONDON & BOSTON – 4BIO Capital (“4BIO” or “the Group”), an international venture capital firm focused solely on the advanced therapies sector, today announces that it has led a $6 million seed financing round in Ray Therapeutics (or “the Company”), a biotech company developing optogenetic gene therapies for patients with blinding diseases.
The funding will be used to advance its optogenetic therapy, Ray-001, into clinical trials in retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Based on the durability of treatment demonstrated in preclinical studies, Ray-001 is intended to be a one-time treatment via intravitreal injection that is sustainable for a lifetime. Unlike current RP gene therapies in development, which are targeted to specific genetic mutations or individuals with remaining photoreceptors that only address a small patient population, Ray-001 is mutation-agnostic.
Optogenetics is a promising approach that has the potential to restore useful vision to visually-impaired and blind individuals. In RP, a patient’s photoreceptors, the primary cells required for vision, are lost and cannot regenerate. However, inner retinal neurons downstream to photoreceptors, especially retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), persist in significant numbers even in late-stage disease. Ray Therapeutics’ lead candidate Ray-001 uses an intravitreal approach where it diffuses from the vitreous into the retina and transduces primarily the RGCs.
Dr Dmitry Kuzmin, Managing Partner at 4BIO Capital, commented: “We’re excited to invest in Ray Therapeutics, which is developing a ground-breaking new approach to treat inherited retinal diseases using the power of optogenetics. Ray’s experienced management team have a successful track record in developing regenerative medicines in ophthalmology indications including optogenetic therapies. As a mutation-agnostic approach, Ray-001 has a significant advantage in that it can potentially treat more patients as a one-time intravitreal injection that will last for a lifetime.”
Paul Bresge, CEO & Co-Founder at Ray Therapeutics, said: “This seed financing round led by top-tier advanced therapies investor 4BIO Capital, enables us to advance our optogenetic gene therapy platform, pipeline and people. I’m thrilled to be leading a team to develop our optogenetic gene therapy, Ray-001, which could potentially restore vision for patients with blinding diseases, beginning with retinitis pigmentosa, an area of significant unmet medical need.”
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Contacts
| 4BIO Capital | +44 (0) 203 427 5500 info@4biocapital.com |
| AccessAlpha Worldwide LLC | +1 (312) 585 6000 4BIO@AccessAlpha.com |
| Consilium Strategic Communications Amber Fennell, Allison Connolly, Genevieve Wilson | +44 (0)20 3709 5700 4biocapital@consilium-comms.com |
About Retinitis Pigmentosa
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP), is a heterogeneous group of genetic diseases that cause retinal degeneration leading to near or complete blindness for most patients. The severe loss of photoreceptor cells that occurs in this genetic degenerative disease leads to partial or complete blindness. At present, no effective treatment is available to restore vision once the photoreceptor cells have been lost. Over 100 genetic mutations are known to cause RP and all types of inheritance patterns are recognized. Patients are typically diagnosed in their late teens, with symptoms including night blindness, reduced visual fields and eventual loss of visual acuity. As the disease progresses, retinal atrophy, and permanent loss of the light sensitive photoreceptors occur. The prevalence of RP is approximately 100,000 persons affected in the US.
About 4BIO Capital
4BIO Capital is an international venture capital firm focused solely on the advanced therapies sector.
4BIO’s objective is to invest in, support, and grow early stage companies developing treatments in areas of high unmet medical need, with the ultimate goal of ensuring access to these potentially curative therapies for all patients. Specifically, it looks for viable, high-quality opportunities in cell and gene therapy, RNA-based therapy, targeted therapies, and the microbiome.
The 4BIO team comprises leading advanced therapy scientists and experienced life science investors who have collectively published over 250 scientific articles in prestigious academic journals including Nature, The Lancet, Cell, and the New England Journal of Medicine. 4BIO has both an unrivalled network within the advanced therapy sector and a unique understanding of the criteria that define a successful investment opportunity in this space.
For more information, please visit www.4biocapital.com
About Ray Therapeutics
Ray Therapeutics is developing novel optogenetics gene therapies for patients with blinding diseases. The company is developing its lead candidate Ray-001 in retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative retinal disease with significant unmet medical need. The company’s mission is to use optogenetics to restore vision, agnostic of genetic mutation for patients with inherited retinal diseases. Ray Therapeutics is based in San Diego, CA. For additional information, please visit www.raytherapeutics.com.
