Rampart bags $85m in Series A financing round for non-viral gene therapies

Rampart Biosciences has raised $85 million in a Series A financing round, which builds on an initial $40 million seed investment from OrbiMed.

Rampart, a Californian biotechnology startup firm focused on developing biologics, said the Series A financing round will be used to develop medicines “that aim to unburden patients from disease and their treatments.”

The company’s total amount of funding has now reached a total of $125 million. Venture capital firm Forbion led the Series A funding round and Rampart’s founding seed investor, OrbiMed, also participated. New investors RA Capital Management and HealthCap also took part.

DepositPhotos/voyata

“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,” said Louis Breton, CEO of Rampart.

“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.”

The firm’s DNA-based medicines platform, named HALO, has been designed to manufacture durable, redosable, and highly potent therapies. Furthermore, Rampart said it used “cues from nature” to tackle the key challenges and safety concerns associated with viral and non-viral gene approaches as inspiration while developing the platform.

Rampart’s lead program aims to treat hypophosphatasia (HPP), which is a genetic disease that stops bone mineralization. The company also has additional programs in development, which were not disclosed.

“Rampart’s DNA medicines contain novel structural elements that drive nuclear trafficking and retention while avoiding immune responses,” said Jeffrey Bartlett, chief innovation and technical officer, Rampart.

“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.”