RougeTx raises $58M to stabilize fragile blood vessels in HHT

RougeTx is building RTX-001, a potential once-daily oral treatment for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, or HHT, an inherited disorder that leaves blood vessels prone to repeated bleeding. The Dutch biotechnology company launched publicly with a $58 million Series A to move the preclinical small molecule toward first-in-human development.

For people with HHT, abnormal vessel formation can create arteriovenous malformations that cause recurrent nose and gastrointestinal bleeding, iron deficiency and chronic anemia. No therapy is approved specifically for the disorder, leaving patients dependent largely on supportive care and medicines used off label.

RougeTx’s thesis centers on pericytes, support cells that help regulate blood-vessel formation and maintain vessel integrity. The company says RTX-001 is designed to restore pericyte attachment and stabilize fragile vessels rather than merely manage the resulting bleeding. BioCentury described that strategy as an alternative to suppressing angiogenesis.

That distinction still has to survive clinical testing. Because RTX-001 is preclinical, its safety and efficacy in people remain untested. Chief Executive Andrew Lightfoot told BioXconomy that the financing is expected to support a double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase IIa study evaluating both measures in HHT patients.

Beyond RTX-001, RougeTx intends to use its periSCOPE platform to identify other diseases driven by vascular instability and design small-molecule treatments around the same underlying biology. HHT is therefore both the lead indication and the first test of whether the company’s pericyte work can support a broader drug pipeline.

RougeTx is a spinout from Leiden University Medical Center, and co-founder Franck Lebrin said the company emerged from more than 20 years of research at Inserm and the Dutch medical center. BioGeneration Ventures, Angelini Ventures and Kurma Partners co-led the round, while representatives of five participating investors joined the board.