Eikon Therapeutics continues IPO parade, raising $381 million for cancer drug clinical trials
Despite advances in cancer immunotherapy, some patients do not respond to these treatments or stop responding after a period of time. Eikon Therapeutics' lead drug candidate could address these limitations. The project is in clinical testing in two common cancer types, and Eikon has raised $381 million in cash through the IPO to support the drug and others in its development.
Late Wednesday, Eikon priced its offering of 21.2 million shares at $18 per share, up from the $16 to $18 per share it originally planned to offer for 17.6 million shares. The shares began trading on Nasdaq on Thursday under the ticker symbol “EIKN.” Eikon's IPO builds on growing momentum for biotech IPOs. Aktis Oncology had its first biotech IPO of the year in January. Veradermics began trading as a public company on Wednesday. All three companies have increased the size of their deals.
Millbrae, Calif.-based Eikon discovers and develops drugs using proprietary technology that enables the visualization and analysis of proteins. But the company's most advanced projects come from commercial deals. The lead program, EIK1001, was licensed by Seven and Eight Biopharmaceuticals in 2023. This small molecule is a dual agonist of Toll-like receptors 7 and 8 (TLR 7/8), designed to activate innate and adaptive immune responses to cancer.
The use of TLR agonists to treat cancer is limited by systemic toxicity, Eikon said in its IPO filing. One way to avoid this problem is to inject the therapy directly into the tumor. But Eikon said this approach was ineffective, possibly because it failed to activate the innate immune system in secondary lymphoid tissue, such as immune cells in lymph nodes and the spleen. Eikon said it has determined the dose and schedule for systemic delivery of EIK1001 to enable the treatment to reach these tissues.
A Phase 2 study is underway testing EIK1001 in combination with Merck's checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda and chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Preliminary data show responses and reductions in tumor size. Eikon plans to submit data from the trial for presentation at a medical conference later this year.
A separate Phase 2/3 registration trial is ongoing testing EIK1001 in combination with Keytruda to treat advanced melanoma. Eikon expects the study to conduct its first interim analysis in the second half of 2026, after which it plans to select the optimal dose. Eikon is also conducting a clinical trial evaluating EIK1001 in stage 4 NSCLC. The global Phase 2/3 registration study will test the investigational drug in combination with Keytruda and chemotherapy. Eikon expects to dose its first patient in the second half of this year. Eikon said its lead drug candidate may find wider use.
“We also believe that EIK1001's design to activate innate and adaptive immune anti-tumor responses creates the potential to explore additional indications, including highly immunogenic tumors that have demonstrated sensitivity to immunotherapy, as well as moderately and poorly immunogenic tumors where current immunotherapies have little activity,” the company said in its IPO filing.
Eikon's pipeline includes two PARP inhibitors: EIK1003 and EIK1004. These drugs, licensed from Impact Therapeutics, are selective for PARP1 without affecting PARP2. This selectivity may provide safety advantages compared with currently available PARP inhibitors, as inhibition of PARP2 may carry the risk of hematological complications. Eikon said in the filing that it believes the selectivity of its PARP inhibitors may enable it to be combined with chemotherapy in early treatment and to maintain a sustained therapeutic dose during maintenance treatment. A Phase 1 dose-escalation study of EIK1003 as monotherapy in ovarian, breast and prostate cancer is ongoing.
Meanwhile, a global Phase 1/2 study is underway testing EIK1004 in ovarian, breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer. Eikon believes the drug's ability to penetrate the central nervous system could help treat patients with advanced solid tumors with or without brain metastases. The company believes the drug also has potential applications in treating primary brain cancer.
Eikon's most advanced in-house discovery program is EIK1005, an inhibitor of WRN helicase, an enzyme that plays a role in DNA damage repair. The company believes the drug could be used to treat microsatellite instability-high tumors, either as a monotherapy or in combination with immunotherapy. A Phase 1/2 study is ongoing enrolling patients with advanced solid tumors.
Eikon was founded in 2019 and emerged in 2021 with $148 million in funding and former Merck executive Roger Perlmutter as CEO. Prior to its IPO, Eikon had raised more than $1.1 billion; its most recent round was a $350.7 million Series D nearly a year ago.
At the end of 2025, Eikon reported a cash position of $336 million. Eikon plans to spend approximately $100 million to continue clinical development of its lead program EIK1001 in advanced melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer, according to the filing. An additional $60 million is earmarked to complete Phase 1/2 testing of EIK1003. Funding is also budgeted for early clinical development of EIK1004 and EIK1005.
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