– Disease-modifying therapeutics for patients with genetic diseases caused by mutations in ABC transporters –
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – October 14, 2021 – Rectify Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (“Rectify”) a biotechnology company developing Positive Functional Modulators (PFMs), disease-modifying therapeutics that restore ABC transporter function, today announced it has closed a $100 million Series A financing co-led by Atlas Venture, Omega Funds, Forbion, and Longwood Fund. Rectify plans to use this financing to fund the company through its first human proof-of-concept (POC) studies.
ABC transporters are a 48-member family of membrane-bound proteins with etiologic loss-of-function mutations in multiple organ systems and therapeutic areas including the lungs, liver, gastrointestinal tract, eye, and central nervous system. Rectify is developing a pipeline of PFMs to restore ABC transporter function for patients with serious genetic diseases.
“We founded Rectify to deliver life-changing therapies to patients with serious genetic diseases,” said Rajesh Devraj, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer and venture partner with Atlas Venture. “I am excited to lead a team of exceptional drug hunters as we build a pipeline of disease-modifying therapeutics across multiple therapeutic areas, with the financing to achieve our first human POC.”
Jonathan Moore, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, founded Rectify with Atlas Venture in 2020. Previously, Dr. Moore was a founding scientist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, where he pioneered efforts to treat people with cystic fibrosis by developing precision therapies targeting CFTR, a member of the ABC transporter family. “Outside of CFTR, there are currently no approved therapies that restore ABC transporter function, addressing the underlying cause of disease. Rectify is expanding the application of this proven approach to provide disease-modifying therapies for people living with serious genetic diseases caused by loss-of-function mutations,” said Dr. Moore.
“Rectify’s Positive Functional Modulators have the potential to change the lives of patients with diseases caused by mutations in ABC transporters. We are gratified to have had the opportunity to found and seed the company with Jon and to be working with the fantastic people there,” said Jason Rhodes, partner at Atlas Venture, previously founding Chief Executive Officer of Rectify and now Executive Chair of Rectify’s Board of Directors.
“We are delighted to have co-led this financing alongside this strong group of experienced investors,” said Otello Stampacchia, Ph.D., Founder and Managing Partner, Omega Funds. “The seasoned management team at Rectify leaves us feeling confident in the future growth of this promising company, and we look forward to supporting them on their mission to deliver life-changing therapies for patients with rare genetic diseases.”
Leadership team
In addition to Dr. Devraj and Dr. Moore, Rectify Pharma’s leadership team includes Tracey Dawson, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer, Janeta Popovici-Muller, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Head of Drug Discovery, and Alastair Garfield, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Head of Biology.
Rectify’s Board includes successful biotechnology company builders and its scientific advisors are experienced life science innovators with extensive expertise in drug discovery, structural biology, and liver diseases.
Board of Directors
- Jason Rhodes (Executive Chair), Partner, Atlas Venture
- Rajesh Devraj, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Rectify Pharma
- Jonathan Moore, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Rectify Pharma
- Jodie Morrison, Venture Partner, Atlas Venture
- Otello Stampacchia, Ph.D., Founder and Managing Partner, Omega Funds
- Marco Boorsma, Ph.D., General Partner, Forbion
- David Steinberg, General Partner, Longwood Fund
Scientific Advisory Board
- Richard Chesworth, DPhil, Independent R&D Consultant
- Bob Copeland, Ph.D., President, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Accent Therapeutics
- Richard Thompson, BM BCh, DM, Professor of Molecular Hepatology, School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences at King’s College London
- Jamie Williamson, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, Scripps Research Institute
About Rectify Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Rectify”)
Rectify is developing disease-modifying precision therapies that restore ABC transporter function to address the underlying cause of serious genetic diseases. The company’s pipeline spans multiple therapeutic areas. Rectify was founded, seeded, and launched by Atlas Venture and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
For more information, please visit www.rectifypharma.com.
About Atlas Venture
Atlas Venture is a leading biotech venture capital firm. With the goal of doing well by doing good, we have been building breakthrough biotech startups since 1993. We work side by side with exceptional scientists and entrepreneurs to translate high-impact science into medicines for patients. Our seed-led venture creation strategy rigorously selects and focuses investment on the most compelling opportunities to build scalable businesses and realize value.
For more information, please visit www.atlasventure.com.
About Omega Funds
Founded in 2004, Omega Funds is a leading international investment firm that creates and invests in life sciences companies that target our world’s most urgent medical needs. Omega focuses on identifying and supporting companies through value inflection points across the full arc of innovation, from company formation through clinical milestones and commercial adoption. Omega Funds’ portfolio companies have brought 46 products to market in multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, rare diseases, precision medicine and others.
For more information, please visit www.omegafunds.com.
About Forbion
Forbion is a dedicated life sciences venture capital firm with offices in The Netherlands, Germany and Singapore. Forbion invests in life sciences companies that are active in the (bio-) pharmaceutical space. Forbion manages well over EUR 1.7 billion across multiple fund strategies that cover all stages of (bio-) pharmaceutical drug development. Forbion’s current team consists of 20 life sciences investment professionals that have built an impressive performance track record since the late nineties with successful investments in over 70 companies. The firm is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. Besides financial objectives, Forbion selects investments that will positively affect the health and well-being of patients. Its investors include the EIF, through its European Recovery Programme (ERP), LfA, Dutch Venture Initiative (DVI), AMUF and EFSI facilities and KfW Capital through the Programme, “ERP – Venture Capital Fonds investments”. Forbion operates a joint venture with BGV, the manager of seed and early-stage funds, especially focused on Benelux and Germany.
For more information, please visit: www.forbion.com
About Longwood Fund
Longwood Fund is a leading venture capital firm dedicated to creating and investing in novel healthcare companies that develop important treatments to help patients while targeting significant value for investors. The Longwood team has a long history of successfully launching and building important life science companies while providing operational leadership and strategic guidance. Collectively, the Partners at Longwood Fund have co-founded 23 companies with over 20 launched or marketed drugs and therapies, as well as over two dozen clinical-stage assets, all focused on helping patients in need. Companies founded by Longwood Fund, or its principals prior to the founding of the Firm, as lead investor and CEO/CBO include Vertex, Acceleron, Momenta, Alnylam, Sirtris, Vor, TScan, Pyxis Oncology, Immunitas, Be Biopharma, ImmuneID, and Tome Bio.
For more information, please visit www.longwoodfund.com.
Contact
Sarah Sutton/Michael Barron
Argot Partners
212-600-1902
rectify@argotpartners.com