USA – Eikon Therapeutics has announced that it raised US$517.8 million in Series B funding, bringing the total raised since the company’s inception two years ago to more than US$668 million, including a Series A round that closed in 2021.
The company, which hired former Merck & Co. research head Roger Perlmutter as CEO last year, is using live-cell super-resolution microscopy to discover new drugs.
“Through the integration of advanced engineering and high-performance computing, alongside more traditional molecular biology and medicinal chemistry, Eikon is developing a battery of innovative tools for biological exploration,” noted Perlmutter, adding “we will use the resources of this new financing to progress more quickly.”
According to Eikon, its proprietary platforms can help shed more light on the short-lived interactions between intracellular constituents that underpin biochemical regulation.
According to the company, its technology enables “precise characterization of protein interactions in living cells with exceptional spatial and temporal resolution,” a method that requires the “integration of tools that support advanced imaging, high-performance computing, molecular and cellular biology, medicinal chemistry, and robotics.”
Rowe Price funds and accounts are among the new investors in the Series B financing. Eikon’s insights into the dynamic behavior of proteins, according to John Hall, an analyst at the investment management firm, “are useful not only for biomedical research purposes, but they also hold promise for therapeutic development.”
The funds will allow Eikon to accelerate platform development and advance multiple discovery programs, as well as rapidly scale the business, according to the company.
Meanwhile, the startup announced that it has completed the hiring of a number of industry executives to senior leadership positions.
Daniel Anderson, Ph.D., has joined as Chief Scientific Officer from Recursion Pharmaceuticals, where he was vice president of biology.
Russ Berman, Eikon’s chief technical officer, came from Pacific Biosciences, where he was vice president of engineering.
Alfred Bowie Jr., the company’s CFO, joined from Veracyte, where he was VP of corporate and business development.
Meanwhile, Barbara Howes, former chief human resources officer of Pliant Therapeutics, has joined Eikon as chief people officer and EVP. In addition, Ashish Kheterpal was named chief information officer.
Finally, General Counsel and Chief Business Officer Ben Thorner is a Merck alumnus, as is Perlmutter.
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