Eikon Therapeutics, a drug discovery startup based in Hayward, California, has closed a Series D funding round of nearly $351 million. Investors in this round include Lux Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments. This substantial investment marks one of the largest biotech funding rounds of the year.
This Series D round is the second-largest for a biotech startup so far this year, coming in behind Verdiva Bio, a London-based company focused on treatments for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases, which secured a $411 million Series A round in January. Eikon Therapeutics differentiates itself through its use of super-resolution microscopy, allowing the company to observe the effects of drugs on live cells. The company is currently developing therapies for a range of cancers, including breast, ovarian, prostate, and melanoma.
Since its founding in 2019, Eikon Therapeutics has raised a total of $1.1 billion, according to 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,” stated Dr. Roger Perlmutter, chairman and CEO, in a press release. He added, “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.”
The recent funding represents another significant financial boost for Eikon. In 2022, the company secured a $517.8 million Series B financing from almost 20 different investors, including funds advised by T. Rowe Price Associates.
Overall, biotech startups have raised almost $7 billion in funding so far this year, buoyed by several large, nine-figure rounds. In comparison, biotech startups raised over $35 billion in total during the previous year.
