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Eikon Takes TLR7/8 Agonist Into Phase III With Latest VC Mega-Round

 
• By Alaric DeArment

The company is moving its toll-like receptor 7/8 agonist into late-stage development for melanoma as it closes a $350.7m series D venture funding round.

Screen display representing venture capital investment
• Source: Shutterstock

Eikon Therapeutics has raised another venture capital mega-round – bringing its total funding to date to $1.1bn – to build what it calls a “21st century biotechnology company.” The new financing will allow the Roger Perlmutter-helmed company to move its lead asset, EIK1001, into Phase III development.

Hayward, CA-based Eikon announced 26 February that it closed a $350.7m series D funding round. The EIK1001 trial is a placebo-controlled Phase II/III study that compares the drug combined with Merck & Co.’s PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab) against Keytruda alone among patients with advanced melanoma. According to ClinicalTrials

Key Takeaways
  • Eikon Therapeutics closed a $350.7m series D funding round, bringing the total amount of venture capital raised to date to $1.1bn.
  • The company is also moving its lead program, EIK1001, into Phase III development for melanoma, combined with Merck’s Keytruda

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