Rapport Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company leveraging the science of receptor-associated proteins (RAPs) to advance precision neuromedicines, announced that it has raised $150 million in Series B funding. Led by Cormorant Asset Management, the round includes investments from Fidelity Management & Research Company, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Logos Capital, Perceptive Advisors, Sofinnova Investments, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and all existing investors, which include Third Rock Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners and Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC).
Concurrent with the round, Rapport has appointed Raymond Kelleher, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Director of Cormorant Asset Management, and James Healy, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Partner of Sofinnova Investments, to its Board of Directors.
“We are appreciative for the support of such a prominent group of new investors and excited to welcome Ray and Jim to our board of directors,” said Abraham Ceesay, Chief Executive Officer of Rapport. “Rapport is extremely well positioned to advance our ongoing clinical programs in seizure and psychiatric disorders, and to expand our pipeline by harnessing our unique capability to leverage receptor-associated proteins for precision neuromedicine. We are poised for tremendous growth and look forward to pursuing a wide variety of opportunities to serve patients who desperately need more effective treatments.”
Rapport is leveraging discoveries made by its scientific founders to target receptors in specific neuroanatomical regions underlying the pathophysiology of neurological disorders. Its approach, based on identifying and targeting receptor-associated proteins, contrasts with current treatments that act on targets expressed ubiquitously in the nervous system and, in some cases, other areas of the body. In June, the company appointed a scientific advisory board that includes two Nobel laureates as well as world-renowned experts in ion channel signaling, seizure disorders and the genesis of pain.
“I am thrilled to join the Rapport team during such an exciting period of growth, and to work with its scientists as well as one of the most esteemed groups of scientific advisors in the biotechnology community,” said Dr. Kelleher. “Rapport is pursuing a unique approach that exploits novel molecular insights with the goal of targeting ion channel receptors with unprecedented precision. I look forward to contributing to the success of a team that possesses such a deep determination to change the lives of patients living with neurological diseases.”