Onto Innovation Completes Over $50 Million Series A Financing to Accelerate Deep Pipeline Expansion in Nucleic Acid Drugs
Focused on drug development based on antisense oligonucleotide technology.
Arnatar, a company dedicated to developing nucleic acid therapeutics, recently announced the completion of a Series A funding round exceeding $50 million. The round was led by Eight Roads, Bencao Capital, Huajin Capital, Gaorong Ventures, and Jifeng Capital, among others. The proceeds will primarily accelerate the expansion of the company's drug pipeline and fast-track clinical trials.
Founded in 2022 by a team of leading global scientists in nucleic acid therapeutics, Arnatar has built a proprietary breakthrough nucleic acid drug platform and continues to uncover novel mechanisms for nucleic acid-based medicines across multiple therapeutic areas.
Mutations or abnormal expression in RNA often cause disease. Antisense molecules can be designed to specifically target RNA, modulating its function and expression to enable rational design of personalized medicines. The recent success and regulatory approval of more than ten antisense drugs have heralded the arrival of the RNA-targeted therapeutics era.
Arnatar is leveraging innovative antisense technology, using RNA interference (RNAi) and antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) platforms to regulate target gene expression, offering potential treatments for diseases affecting the liver and extrahepatic organs — both common and rare conditions.
Arnatar's founding team includes world-renowned experts in antisense nucleic acid drug development and pharmaceutical R&D, as well as seasoned industry veterans with extensive experience in RNA biology, drug target selection, and small nucleic acid chemical synthesis.
Dr. Xuehai Liang, founder and CEO of Arnatar, stated: "The successful completion of this funding round not only reflects the value of our platform and pipeline, but also represents the industry's confidence in our future prospects. We will combine our technical strengths in small nucleic acid gene expression regulation with our team's rich experience to accelerate IND filings and clinical trials for our pipeline candidates, while further deepening our pipeline focused on innovative medicines — all to contribute our part to alleviating patient suffering as soon as possible."
Arnatar is building a global market presence and actively pursuing complementary partnerships with industry players and academic institutions to accelerate drug development.
