If you're still sleeping on biotech in Columbus, Ohio, let Armatus Bio, Inc. be your wake-up call, and no, this isn’t your standard Midwest nice story. This is precision science meeting street-level execution, and it's coming for diseases that have spent way too long unchecked. Armatus just secured a $3 million injection from SOLVE FSHD, a venture philanthropy group that’s not playing around. This isn’t hype money, it’s heat-seeking capital aimed at killing silence and muscle degeneration where they live. And it’s going straight into ARM-201, their lead therapy engineered to silence the DUX4 gene behind FSHD like it’s got a target on its back.
Founded in December 2020 by Dr. Michael Triplett, Armatus Bio didn’t wade in with the kiddie pool startups. They came for the deep end, neuromuscular disorders with no cures, no competition, and no room for error. This team is vectorizing RNAi therapies with adeno-associated virus (AAV) delivery systems, designed to hit harder, faster, and cleaner than anything else out there. Think of it like giving genetic disorders a dose of their own medicine, delivered via the biotech equivalent of a guided missile.
Triplett, now Chairman, handed the reins to biotech veteran Dr. Rachel Salzman, DVM as CEO, with Dr. Brian Price driving the technical engine as CTO. These aren’t PowerPoint warriors. They’re lab-tested, industry-forged killers, turning preclinical research into FDA-ready therapies. ARM-201 is already FDA-sweetened with Orphan Drug and Rare Pediatric Disease designations. That’s not window dressing, that’s market access, exclusivity, and leverage. And this isn’t their first rodeo. ARM101, their gene therapy for CMT1A, already aced pivotal animal studies, and the FDA’s been briefed and ready.
They’ve lined up a manufacturing pact with Andelyn Biosciences and licensed the AAV-SLB101 capsid from Solid Biosciences, translation: these folks are building a therapy empire with muscle, inside and out. Not to mention, their proprietary miRNA payloads are dialed in for skeletal and cardiac muscle transduction with surgical precision.
Their backers? Not tourists. California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA) and the CMT Research Foundation fueled the early stages, and now with SOLVE FSHD in, the engine’s revving for clinical trials. This isn’t about runway, it’s about launch velocity.
FSHD affects 1 in 8,000 people worldwide. CMT1A is the most common inherited nerve disease. And there’s nothing approved for either. Armatus isn’t just developing drugs. they’re rewriting what biotech from Columbus can do when it stops asking for permission and starts taking the wheel.
Let’s connect and keep the momentum going across the tech ecosystem. Whether you’re a founder shaping the future, a leader driving change, a VC backing bold ideas, or an investor spotting the next big thing—together, we’re pushing boundaries. Proud to be building the future with you.
Let’s connect on LinkedIn and Twitter (X), and keep the conversation going.