Eikon Therapeutics is planning to become the second biotech to go public in 2026 in another sign the public markets are looking increasingly attractive to drug developers.
Eikon emerged publicly in 2021 with a stated goal to apply live-cell super-resolution microscopy to drug discovery. Headed up by former Merck & Co. executive Roger Perlmutter, M.D., Ph.D., the biotech went on to secure a series of megarounds, with the most ambitious being a $517 million series B in 2022 and the most recent being the $350.7 million series D in February.
Now, the company is considering listing on the Nasdaq, according to a Jan. 9 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The California-based biotech has yet to set out how many shares it plans to sell or at what price. But the company has explained that the top priority for spending the proceeds of the IPO will be advancing its four clinical-stage candidates.
These are headed up by EIK1001, a toll-like receptor 7 and 8 agonist immune modulator acquired from Seven and Eight Biopharmaceuticals that is in a phase 2/3 trial in combination with Keytruda for advanced melanoma as well as a separate phase 2/3 study for non-small cell lung cancer.
Behind EIK1001 is a pair of PARP1 inhibitors licensing from China’s Impact Therapeutics, dubbed EIK1003 and EIK1004, which are undergoing phase 1/2 trials in ovarian, breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers. EIK1004, which is designed as a brain-penetrant therapy, is also being assessed against brain metastases and primary brain malignancies.
Finally, there’s a WRN helicase inhibitor developed in-house called EIK1005, which is undergoing a phase 1/2 study for advanced solid tumors.
Some of the IPO funds will also be used to explore a preclinical candidate called EIK1006 that has been developed with Eikon’s own androgen receptor antagonist platform.
While Eikon has been busy in recent years licensing drugs, launching trials and raising funds, it hasn’t all been plain sailing at the company. In May 2025, the company blamed government funding cuts for its move to lay off almost 15% of its workforce.
Eikon’s leadership will likely be hoping to repeat the success of Aktis Oncology, which Friday became the first biotech to go public in 2026. The radiopharmaceutical developer’s upsized $318 million offering was not only the largest biotech IPO since 2024, but the company’s shares also ended their first day trading up 24%.