Regardless of advances in most cancers immunotherapy, some sufferers don’t reply to those remedies or change into unresponsive over time. Eikon Therapeutics’ lead drug candidate might tackle these limitations. This program is presently in medical testing for 2 widespread sorts of most cancers and Eikon has raised $381 million in IPOs to assist this drug and others in its pipeline.

Late Wednesday, Eikon priced its providing of 21.2 million shares at $18 every, down from the 17.6 million shares the corporate initially deliberate to supply within the vary of $16 to $18 every. These shares started buying and selling on the Nasdaq on Thursday underneath the inventory image “EIKN.” Eikon’s inventory market debut builds on the rising momentum for biotech IPOs. Aktis Oncology had the primary biotech IPO of the yr in January. Veradermics started buying and selling as a publicly traded firm on Wednesday. All three firms managed to scale their offers.

Millbrae, California-based Eikon discovers and develops medication utilizing proprietary know-how that permits visualization and evaluation of proteins. However the firm’s most superior packages got here from enterprise offers. Predominant program EIK1001 was licensed by Seven and Eight Biopharmaceuticals in 2023. This small molecule is a twin agonist of toll-like receptors 7 and eight (TLR 7/8), an method meant to activate each innate and adaptive immune responses to most cancers.

The usage of TLR agonists to deal with most cancers is proscribed by systemic toxicity, Eikon mentioned in its IPO submitting. One approach to keep away from that downside is to ship the remedy straight into tumors. However Eikon mentioned this method was ineffective, maybe due to the lack to activate the innate immune system in secondary lymphoid tissues, reminiscent of immune cells within the lymph nodes and spleen. Eikon mentioned it has recognized a dose and schedule to allow systemic administration of EIK1001, permitting the remedy to achieve these tissues.

A Section 2 trial is underway testing EIK1001 together with the Merck checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda and chemotherapy as a remedy for non-small cell lung most cancers (NSCLC). Preliminary knowledge display responses and discount in tumor sizes. Eikon plans to submit knowledge from this trial for presentation at a medical assembly within the second half of this yr.

A separate section 2/3 registration examine is underway testing EIK1001 together with Keytruda in superior melanoma. Eikon expects the primary interim evaluation of this examine within the second half of 2026, after which it plans to pick out the optimum dose. Eikon can also be shifting ahead with a medical trial designed to guage EIK1001 in stage 4 NSCLC. This world Section 2/3 registrational examine will take a look at the investigational drug together with Keytruda and chemotherapy. Eikon expects to dose the primary affected person within the second half of this yr. Eikon says its lead drug candidate might discover broader software.

“We additionally consider that the design of EIK1001 to activate innate and adaptive immune antitumor responses creates the potential to discover extra indications, together with each extremely immunogenic tumors, which have been proven to be amenable to immunotherapy, and reasonably and low immunogenic tumors, the place present immunotherapies have demonstrated little to no exercise,” the corporate mentioned within the IPO submitting.

The Eikon pipeline consists of two PARP inhibitors, EIK1003 and EIK1004. These medication, each licensed from Affect Therapeutics, are selective for PARP1 and spare PARP2. This selectivity might have a security benefit over presently accessible PARP inhibitors, which carry a threat of blood issues as a result of inhibiting PARP2. Within the submitting, Eikon mentioned it believes the selectivity of its PARP inhibitors might allow mixtures with chemotherapy in earlier strains of remedy, in addition to sustained therapeutic dosing throughout upkeep remedy. A Section 1 dose-escalation examine is ongoing for EIK1003 as a monotherapy for ovarian, breast and prostate most cancers.

In the meantime, a worldwide section 1/2 examine is underway testing EIK1004 in ovarian, breast, prostate and pancreatic most cancers. Eikon believes that this drug’s potential to enter the central nervous system might allow the remedy of sufferers with superior stable tumors, with or with out mind metastases. The corporate believes this drug additionally has potential purposes within the remedy of main mind most cancers.

Eikon’s most superior internally found program is EIK1005, an inhibitor of WRN helicase, an enzyme concerned in DNA injury restore. The corporate believes this drug can be utilized to deal with tumors with excessive microsatellite instability, as a monotherapy or together with immunotherapy. A section 1/2 examine is underway enrolling sufferers with superior stable tumors.

Based in 2019, Eikon emerged from stealth in 2021, unveiling $148 million in funding and former Merck govt Roger Perlmutter as CEO. Previous to the IPO, Eikon had raised greater than $1.1 billion; its most up-to-date funding was a $350.7 million Collection D spherical practically a yr in the past.

On the finish of 2025, Eikon reported that its money place was $336 million. Based on the submitting, Eikon plans to spend roughly $100 million to proceed medical improvement of its lead program EIK1001 in superior melanoma and NSCLC. One other $60 million is earmarked to finish a Section 1/2 take a look at of EIK1003. Capital can also be budgeted for the early medical improvement of EIK1004 and EIK1005.

Photograph: Getty Photos