City Therapeutics secures $99.5 million to advance RNAi drugs targeting clotting disorder and Stargardt disease

City Therapeutics, a young biotech focused on RNA interference therapies, announced it has raised $99.5 million to support further development of its pipeline. The funding will back its lead candidate, CITY-FXI, which entered Phase 1 trials this year and targets Factor XI to lower bleeding risk in patients unsuitable for existing blood-thinners.

CITY-FXI aims to treat thromboembolic conditions such as pulmonary embolism, stroke and deep-vein thrombosis. By inhibiting Factor XI, the drug could provide anticoagulation without the heightened bleeding associated with current therapies, a claim highlighted by CEO Andy Orth.

The company’s second program, CITY-RBP4, is slated to begin human testing later in 2026 for Stargardt disease, a hereditary retinal disorder. While other firms pursue gene-editing or RNA-editing approaches, City is developing an RNAi-based solution.