ARTHEx Biotech, a clinical-stage company developing RNA-targeted therapies for rare genetic diseases, has announced the extension of its Series B round to $87 million. The financing was led by Bpifrance, through its Large Venture fund, with the participation of all existing investors, including Columbus Venture Partners, who led the initial Series B in 2023.
The additional funding will support the international clinical development of ATX-01, ARTHEx’s lead candidate for Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 (DM1), as well as the preparation of a late-stage registrational clinical trial. It will also boost the expansion of the company’s RNA therapeutics pipeline into muscle, cardiac and neurological diseases with high unmet medical needs.
ARTHEx’s approach for DM1 has already delivered strong results both in vitro and in vivo. Its dual mechanism of action has the potential to become the standard of care for this disease. Moreover, the company’s delivery platform has demonstrated the ability to reach multiple affected tissues, enabling ATX-01 to address DM1 as a whole rather than focusing solely on muscle symptoms.
“ARTHEx is in a strong position to move towards a registrational clinical trial in DM1,” said Frédéric Legros, CEO of ARTHEx Biotech. First clinical data are expected in 2026.
From Bpifrance, Laurent Higueret, Deputy Director at Large Venture, added: “We are thrilled to partner with ARTHEx at this pivotal moment as the company reaches clinical proof of concept, and we look forward to supporting Frédéric and his team on their journey to build a leading franchise in precision RNA medicines.”
For Columbus Venture Partners, which has been an investor in ARTHEx since 2023, this milestone represents the confirmation of a strong vision. As our partner José Mesa explains: “ARTHEx’s core technology to modulate microRNAs has shown great potential from the very beginning. This round not only confirms the vision we had just two years ago, but also shows how the company is building a pipeline capable of addressing other diseases with huge unmet medical needs.”
At Columbus Venture Partners we believe this achievement strengthens ARTHEx’s ability to lead the next generation of precision RNA medicines, a field with the potential to transform the future of biomedicine.
