Ray Therapeutics Raises $125M in Series B Funding

The round also saw participation from new investors Adage Capital Management, Franklin Templeton, Invus, and Marshall Wace and existing investors 4BIO Capital, Deerfield Management, MRL Ventures Fund (the therapeutics-focused corporate venture arm of Merck & Co), Norwest, Novo Holdings A/S, and Platanus.

The company plans to use the funds to expand its operations and development efforts to create new vision restoration treatments for people with retinal diseases.

“This funding strongly supports our vision restoration platform and shows the value of our approach and the progress we’ve made in clinical and regulatory work,” said Paul Bresge, CEO and Co-Founder of RayTx. “After receiving the Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for our lead program, we’re encouraged by the strong interest from top investors.”

"He added that these investors are known for backing successful biopharmaceutical companies, which strengthens RayTx’s position in vision restoration. He also thanked existing investors for their continued support, and welcomed new Series B investors noting a shared goal of developing life changing treatments for patients with serious vision loss, "said Paul Bresge."

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“We are pleased to lead this Series B and support RayTx as the company advances clinical development in multiple indications. Having followed and surveyed the field for some time, we are confident that RayTx’s approach to optogenetics is uniquely differentiated,” said Agustin Mohedas, Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst at Janus Henderson Investors. “RayTx’s platform is not just an incremental improvement; it is a first and best-in-class technology with the potential to restore independence to patients and set a new bar for the standard of care in this patient population.”

About Ray Therapeutics

Founded in 2021, by Paul Bresge, Ray Therapeutics is a clinical stage company developing optogenetic therapies to restore vision in people with retinal diseases. Its approach uses a specially designed light sensitive protein delivered to targeted retinal cells to improve vision, regardless of the disease's genetic cause.

Its lead program, RTx-015, is being tested in patients with retinitis pigmentosa and is administered as a single-eye injection to help restore functional vision. The company is also developing RTx-021, a second program aimed at treating macular diseases like Stargardt disease and geographic atrophy by targeting retinal bipolar cells.

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