HARTFORD—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced on Friday that New Haven start-up, Rallybio, has been named “Murphy’s Innovator of the Month.” Founded in 2018, Rallybio is a biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to identify and accelerate the development of transformative therapies for patients with severe and rare disorders. Founders Martin Mackay, Steve Uden, and Jeff Fryer spent their careers working in the pharmaceutical field, where they became passionate about developing innovative, life-transforming medicines for patients suffering from rare and ultra-rare diseases. The company’s lead product candidate, RLYB211, is in development for the prevention of fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT), a potentially life-threatening rare disease that can cause uncontrolled bleeding in fetuses and newborns. Last week, Rallybio announced the completion of a $145 million Series B financing to help advance the company’s current portfolio of product candidates targeting devastating rare diseases, including RLYB211 and product candidates in the areas of hematology, immuno-inflammation and metabolic disease.

"Start-ups like Rallybio choose Connecticut because we have the best talent and innovators in the world—resulting in some of the world's medical breakthrough treatments being developed right here. The hardworking scientists and researchers at Rallybio are working tirelessly to develop life-changing treatments for patients with severe and rare disorders, with the hope of eventually eradicating these diseases. I'm proud to name Rallybio as my Innovator of the Month, and excited to see this company continue to grow in Connecticut," said Murphy.

"With a vast talent base of scientists and drug developers, Connecticut is a prime location for our company," said Martin Mackay, co-founder of Rallybio. "We look forward to growing our team and expanding our footprint in the state, as we work diligently to bring life-transforming therapies to patients in need."

With the help of Connecticut Innovations and a number of other financial backers, Rallybio employs 16 people who work out of their headquarters in New Haven and an additional location at the University of Connecticut’s Technology Incubation Program (TIP) in Farmington.

Murphy believes entrepreneurship and innovation are the building blocks for a strong economy. In the U.S. Senate, he has introduced two bipartisan pieces of legislation to incentivize angel investors to put more money into startup companies—the Angel Tax Credit Act and the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act. Startup companies create an average of 2 million jobs each year. 

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