Startup Eikon Therapeutics raised one of the biggest biotech rounds thus far in this young year.
The Hayward, California-based drug startup closed a nearly $351 million in a Series D from the likes of Lux Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments.
The round is the second biggest for a biotech startup this year, behind only London-based Verdiva Bio, a company creating treatments for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases, which raised a $411 million Series A in January.
Eikon uses super-resolution microscopy to discover the effects of drugs on live cells. The company is developing therapies for a variety of cancers, including breast, ovarian, prostate and melanoma.
Founded in 2019, the company has now raised $1.1 billion, per Crunchbase.
“Eikon has made remarkable progress in advancing a pivotal-stage clinical pipeline and early-stage development program powered by our single-molecule tracking technology and the deep expertise of our multidisciplinary team,” said chairman and CEO Dr. Roger Perlmutter in a release. “With clinical studies now operating in 28 countries, across 5 continents, we are accelerating the development of much-needed therapies while continuing to expand our research and development capabilities.”
Big money
This is just the latest big round for Eikon, which raised a $517.8 million Series B financing from nearly 20 different investors, including funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, back in 2022.
Biotech startups this year have raised almost $7 billion so far — thanks in part to some large nine-figure rounds. Last year, biotech startups raised more than $35 billion in total.
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Illustration: Dom Guzman
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