Cision PR Newswire

RheumaGen, Inc. Launches with $15 Million Series A Financing to Advance a New Class of HLA Gene-Editing Therapies for Major Autoimmune Diseases

News provided by

Jan 09, 2025, 7:05 AM ET

Company focused on editing the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) to transform autoimmunity

Lead program, RG0401, in development for treatment-resistant or refractory rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as a one-time, curative treatment

AURORA, Colo., Jan. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- RheumaGen, Inc., a cell and gene therapy company engineering a new class of therapeutics for major autoimmune diseases, announced today the close of a $15 million Series A financing co-led by SPRIM Global Investments and William Taylor Nominees. The financing will support RheumaGen in completing a Phase I clinical trial of its lead program, RG0401, for treatment-resistant or refractory rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

"We founded RheumaGen to relieve the burden that individuals suffering from autoimmune diseases have carried for so long. We are not interested in incremental improvements. We seek cures and remission," said Richard Freed, CEO & Co-Founder of RheumaGen. "This financing will enable us to advance our clinical programs and move closer to fulfilling RheumaGen's vision to cure patients suffering from autoimmune diseases. We are grateful to our investors who share our vision and values, as we work to advance a pipeline of life-changing treatments for autoimmunity."

"RheumaGen's approach is exciting because it holds the potential for a single intervention to permanently alter the course of autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis," said Prof. George Schett, M.D., Vice President of Research and Head of the Department of Internal Medicine 3 at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, and member of RheumaGen's Scientific Advisory Board. "This way of thinking could be very disruptive in the market, because it solves a critical unmet need, particularly for those treatment-resistant patients who are suffering the most."

RheumaGen is developing a breakthrough class of cell and gene therapies designed to cure autoimmune diseases at their source. The company is focused on editing the human leukocyte antigen (HLA), or "immune gene," so that the immune system does not attack healthy cells. The company was co-founded by Dr. Brian Freed, the company's Chief Science Officer, who is a professor of medicine and immunology at the University of

Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, and who founded CU Anschutz's ClinImmune, one of the largest nonprofit clinical laboratories in the U.S.

"We are thrilled to have co-led this financing alongside this strong group of experienced investors," said Tassos Konstantinou, Managing Director, Life Sciences, at SPRIM Global Investments. "We are confident in RheumaGen's future growth, powered by their promising CGT technology and decades of immunology, histocompatibility and clinical expertise across the team, and we look forward to supporting the company as they advance their pipeline."

RG0401 and Clinical Programs

RG0401, RheumaGen's lead program, targets 10-20% of RA patients who are refractory or treatment-resistant and suffer substantial unmet need. The company is currently conducting RG0401 IND-enabling studies and plans to begin the Phase I clinical trial in 2026. RG0401 aims to cure refractory RA by treating its HLA source. With a precision edit to a DNA marker(s) of the HLA gene, RG0401 is designed only to make a patient's HLA molecules mirror those of a person resistant to RA, while maintaining the rest of the immune system as normal. This therapy changes harmful HLA alleles to healthy ones and prevents T cells from activating chronic autoimmune responses, thereby halting not only cell and tissue degradation but also the entire disease process with this approach.

"Treatment-resistant RA patients are suffering terribly," said Dr. Freed. "We believe that if we reach these patients early enough – with our intended one-time, curative treatment – then we can halt the disease and prevent years of accumulated damage to the body. The real potential of HLA gene-editing in RA and across autoimmunity is extraordinary."

RheumaGen is building a pipeline of treatments to address autoimmune diseases in which HLA alleles play a critical epidemiological role, including programs for multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and ankylosing spondylitis currently in development.

About RheumaGen, Inc.

RheumaGen is a private biotechnology company engineering a new class of therapeutics to cure major autoimmune diseases. RheumaGen focuses on editing the human leukocyte antigen (HLA), or "immune gene," to develop one-time, curative cell and gene therapies. RheumaGen is headquartered in Aurora, Colorado. For more information, please visit rheumagen.com.

Contacts:

Media & Investor Relations
Sarah Sutton/Maghan Meyers
Argot Partners
212-600-1902
RheumaGen@argotpartners.com