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China's Ractigen raises USD 31m to expand saRNA pipeline

Edited by Robert McTiernan··2 min read
China's Ractigen raises USD 31m to expand saRNA pipeline

China-based Ractigen Therapeutics has closed a financing round exceeding USD 31 million (CNY 200 million) to advance its clinical-stage small activating RNA (saRNA) pipeline and expand proprietary extrahepatic delivery platforms, with proceeds directed toward Phase II trials for two lead assets and an investigational new drug filing for a third.

Guozhong Capital led the round, with participation from IDG Capital, China Everbright Limited, Jolmo Capital, Win-Win Capital, and SND Financial Holdings. Longmen Capital, an existing shareholder, joined for its third consecutive round, having first backed the company in 2021. Ractigen has raised approximately USD 78 million across three disclosed rounds, including a USD 17 million Series A in 2021 led by Hillhouse Venture Capital and a USD 30 million Series A+ in 2022 led by SDIC Venture Capital, which also drew a strategic equity investment from Japan-based Eisai. In late 2025, the company said it entered a drug discovery and platform licensing collaboration with an undisclosed publicly listed pharmaceutical company valued at over USD 3 billion.

Ractigen's platform is built on RNA activation (RNAa), a mechanism discovered by founder and CEO Dr. Long-Cheng Li during his tenure at the University of California, San Francisco. Unlike conventional RNA therapeutics that silence genes, saRNAs target gene promoter regions to upregulate endogenous protein expression at the transcriptional level without altering the genome.

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The lead oncology asset, RAG-01, is an intravesically delivered saRNA that activates the p21 tumour suppressor gene in BCG-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Phase I trials reported a preliminary 67% complete response rate, and the US FDA has granted the program both Fast Track Designation and IND approval. Proceeds will accelerate Phase II development. The CNS asset RAG-17, a siRNA delivered via Ractigen's SCAD platform for SOD1-mutant amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, dosed its first Phase II patient in January 2026, with enrollment now fully completed; Phase I data presented at the 2026 American Academy of Neurology annual meeting demonstrated an 81% reduction in neurofilament light chain. RAG-18, a systemic saRNA targeting utrophin upregulation in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, holds US FDA Orphan Drug Designation and is being advanced toward an IND filing with this round's proceeds. Separately, the company recently received US FDA IND clearance for RAG-1C, an ocular saRNA candidate for proliferative vitreoretinopathy delivered via its LiCO platform.

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