• Series A co-led by BioGeneration Ventures, Angelini Ventures and Kurma Partners, with participation from Epidarex Capital, Vesalius Biocapital Partners, ROM Utrecht Region, p53 Invest and Kerna Ventures.
• Financing will advance a potential once-daily oral treatment designed to restore blood vessel stability in HHT, a serious inherited bleeding disorder with no approved therapies.
• periSCOPE platform supports pipeline expansion across vascular diseases associated with vascular instability.

RougeTx, a preclinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class disease-modifying therapies designed to restore vascular integrity by targeting pericyte dysfunction, announced its launch with a $58 million Series A financing. The round was co-led by founding investor BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) with Angelini Ventures, together with EIB (European Investment Bank) co-investment facility Aurea, and Kurma Partners, with further participation from Epidarex Capital, Vesalius Biocapital Partners, ROM Utrecht Region, p53 Invest, and Kerna Ventures.

The financing will support RTX-001, RougeTx's lead program, as it advances toward first-in-human clinical development for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). HHT is the second most common inherited bleeding disorder. The disease is caused by abnormal blood vessel formation known as arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), which can lead to recurrent nose and gastrointestinal bleeding, iron deficiency, chronic anemia, and potentially serious complications affecting major organs. There are currently no approved therapies for HHT, and patients rely largely on supportive care and off-label treatments.

“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,” said Andrew Lightfoot, Chief Executive Officer at RougeTx.

Franck Lebrin, Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor at RougeTx, remarked: “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.”

Sandra Glucksmann, Executive Chair at RougeTx, noted: “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.”

Through its periSCOPE platform, RougeTx is applying its deep understanding of vascular biology beyond HHT to identify new treatment opportunities in diseases driven by vascular instability. The platform is intended to support a pipeline of small-molecule therapies based on a common underlying biology.

In connection with the financing, 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 existing directors.