Eikon Therapeutics, a biotech company from the US, has raised $350.7 million to develop its cancer treatments. Since its start in 2019, Eikon has gathered a total of $1.1 billion in funding. The company is working on a drug called EIK1001, which is in the final testing phase for treating advanced melanoma, a type of skin cancer. They are testing it alongside Keytruda, a well-known cancer treatment, to see if the combination works better than Keytruda alone. Another study is also looking at EIK1001 for lung cancer, expected to finish in 2026.
Eikon got the rights to develop EIK1001 from another company, Seven and Eight Biotherapeutics, in 2023. Earlier tests showed that EIK1001 works well on its own and even better when combined with other treatments for various cancers.
This latest funding round is one of the biggest for a biotech company this year, only surpassed by Verdiva Bio, which raised $410 million earlier. Eikon, co-founded by Nobel Prize winner Eric Betzig, uses advanced technology to study how proteins move in living cells, which could change how future clinical trials are conducted.
Eikon is also testing two other drugs in early stages. EIK1003 targets specific cancers like breast and ovarian, while EIK1004 is being developed for brain cancer. The company plans to start testing EIK1004 in 2025. Additionally, Eikon is exploring treatments for DNA repair-deficient cancers.
Investors in this funding round include Lux Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, and others.
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