RhyGaze AG
Basel, CH · 17 employees on LinkedIn · 5 known investors
RhyGaze develops gene therapies using optogenetic proteins to restore sight in patients with vision loss caused by retinal photoreceptor dysfunction. The company combines optogenetic technology with gene therapy delivery methods to enable light detection in degenerative eye conditions.
Also known as RhyGaze
Founders & leadership
Investors · 5
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements- Undisclosed amountSeries AJan 2025Source ↗
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026RhyGaze AG is a biotechnology company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, with a second site in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It develops gene therapies intended to restore vision in patients whose blindness stems from retinal cells losing the ability to convert light into electrical signals the brain can interpret. The company's approach, termed cone optogenetics, delivers a gene encoding a new light sensor specifically to cone cells — the retinal cells responsible for high-acuity vision — that have lost light sensitivity, with the aim of repairing their ability to detect light.
The platform originated at the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB), where Botond Roska, M.D., Ph.D., and Bence György, M.D., Ph.D., combined optogenetic proteins that confer photosensitivity on mammalian cells with gene therapy vectors designed to install that machinery in target cell types in the human eye. Published work from this line of research describes an optogenetic vector that selectively expresses a light-sensitive protein in human cells and, in a human retina model, restored retinal light sensitivity and retinal computations comparable to normal human retina responses. RhyGaze was founded on intellectual property exclusively licensed from IOB.
The company is led by CEO Katherine High, previously co-founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer / Head of R&D at Spark Therapeutics. Other named executives include Linda Couto (Chief Scientific Officer), Paulo Falabella (Chief Medical Officer), Heather Floyd (Chief Operating Officer), Tracy Dowling (Chief Business Officer & General Counsel) and Dan Takefman (Chief Development Officer). Scientific founders are Charles Gubser (former IOB co-director), Botond Roska (IOB co-director) and Bence György. The board includes Karthik Ardhanareeswaran and David Schenkein (Google Ventures), Paul Berns (ARCH Venture Partners), Daniela Couto (BioGeneration Ventures), Florian Müllershausen (Novartis Venture Fund), Bence György and Katherine High.
Founding story
RhyGaze was established in 2024 as the first spinout of the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel, six years after IOB's own foundation, to commercialize optogenetic vision-restoration research conducted there by Botond Roska and Bence György. The company licensed the underlying intellectual property exclusively from IOB. Its name is a reference to the Basel-German word for the river Rhein ("Rhy").
Business model
RhyGaze is a preclinical-stage therapeutics developer, funded by venture capital, that advances a licensed academic gene therapy platform toward clinical trials and eventual commercialization; it also invites partnership inquiries via its website.
Traction
Traction to date is financing and preclinical: a CHF 10 million seed round (July 2024) and an $86 million Series A (January 2025), an exclusive IOB license, an assembled executive team, and preclinical demonstration of restored light sensitivity in a human retina model. One profile listed the company at 2-10 employees as of early 2025. No clinical trial results are reported in the sources.
Latest developments
The most recent company-specific financing reported is the $86 million Series A announced in January 2025. Subsequent 2026 items in IOB's news listing record the 2026 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for CEO Katherine A. High and the 2026 Alfred Vogt Prize for scientific founder Bence György.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
RhyGaze positions itself as the first spinout of IOB and as a company pursuing cone-targeted optogenetics, an approach its investors describe as differentiated within the broader optogenetic vision-restoration field. Blindness is described in the sources as a currently untreatable condition representing significant unmet medical need.
Investors cite the cone-specific mechanism of action — rather than targeting other remaining retinal cells — and the potential to treat blind patients across various genetic backgrounds. The company also points to leadership experience with Luxturna, the first FDA-approved gene therapy for a genetic disease, developed at Spark Therapeutics.
Technology
The core technology combines optogenetic proteins that engineer photosensitivity into mammalian cells with gene therapy delivery tools that install the light-sensing machinery in specific cell types in the human eye. The therapy targets cone photoreceptors, delivering a light-sensor gene to cones that have lost light sensitivity. In a human retina model, the optogenetic vector selectively expressed a light-sensitive protein in human cells and restored retinal light sensitivity and retinal computations.
Go-to-market
The company plans a clinical development path: formal pharmacology and toxicology testing, a non-interventional observational study to assess potential clinical endpoints in eligible patient populations, and a first-in-human trial of its lead candidate testing safety, tolerability and potential efficacy. Manufacturing is being transitioned to a third-party organization. The website solicits partnership discussions at info@rhygaze.com.
Patients with vision loss or blindness caused by retinal diseases in which cone photoreceptors lose light sensitivity, potentially across multiple genetic backgrounds.
Geography
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland (Canton Basel-Stadt), with a second location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
History
IOB announced the spinout and a CHF 10 million seed round co-led by BioGeneration Ventures and the Novartis Venture Fund in July 2024, with the proceeds intended to move the gene therapy to a third-party manufacturer and complete studies required before human trials. In January 2025 the company announced an $86 million Series A led by GV (Google Ventures), ARCH Venture Partners and F-Prime Capital together with founding investors BGV and NVF. Later public listings in 2026 reference the company's CEO and scientific founder receiving scientific prizes, indicating continued activity.
Risks & controversies
The lead candidate remains preclinical; the sources note that RhyGaze will determine over the next few years whether data generated at IOB translate to clinical outcomes, and that required pharmacology, toxicology and first-in-human safety studies have yet to be completed. Reported figures vary in currency and framing across sources (CHF 10 million seed versus $86 million Series A, with one aggregator listing $86 million as total funding).
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 5
launches, deals, and filingsAn IOB news listing records that RhyGaze scientific founder Bence György received the 2026 Alfred Vogt Prize for his research in retinal base editing.
An IOB news listing records that Katherine A. High, RhyGaze's CEO, was honored with the 2026 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.
RhyGaze announced an $86 million Series A financing led by GV (Google Ventures), ARCH Venture Partners and F-Prime Capital, with participation from founding investors BioGeneration Ventures and Novartis Venture Fund. The proceeds are intended to fund formal pharmacology and toxicology testing, a non-interventional observational study to assess potential clinical endpoints in eligible patient groups, and a first-in-human trial of the lead optogenetic gene therapy candidate.
$86M source ↗
RhyGaze was founded on intellectual property exclusively licensed to the company by the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel.
RhyGaze AG was introduced as the first spinout of the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB) alongside a CHF 10 million seed round co-led by BioGeneration Ventures and the Novartis Venture Fund. Proceeds were earmarked for transferring the gene therapy to a third-party manufacturing organization and conducting studies needed to initiate human clinical trials. Representatives of IOB, BGV and NVF joined the board.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- RhyGaze AGrhygaze.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does RhyGaze AG do?
- Basel-based IOB spinout developing cone-targeted optogenetic gene therapy to restore vision in blinding retinal diseases.
- Who founded RhyGaze AG?
- RhyGaze AG was founded by Botond Roska, Bence György.
- Who are RhyGaze AG's investors?
- RhyGaze AG's investors include ARCH Venture Partners, Novartis Venture Fund, BioGeneration Ventures, F-Prime Capital, GV (Google Ventures).
- Where is RhyGaze AG headquartered?
- RhyGaze AG is headquartered in Basel, CH.