Khartis Therapeutics Emerges from Stealth with $95 Million to Advance First Oral, Selective IGF-1R Inhibitor for Thyroid Eye Disease
核心洞察
Khartis Therapeutics (搜索) raised $50 million in Series B financing led by Forge Life Science Partners (搜索), bringing total capital raised to $95 million.
The lead program is the first oral, selective IGF-1R (搜索) inhibitor designed specifically for the treatment of thyroid eye disease (搜索) (TED).
The financing will support advancement of the lead program toward the clinic and continued development of a broader oral small molecule immunology pipeline.
Khartis Therapeutics (搜索), a San Diego-based biotechnology company developing first- and best-in-class oral small molecule medicines for immunological and chronic diseases, announced that it has raised $50 million in Series B financing, bringing total capital raised to $95 million. The round was led by Forge Life Science Partners (搜索), with participation from Longwood Fund (搜索) and Alexandria Venture Investments (搜索), alongside existing investors Foresite Capital (搜索), Lilly Asia Ventures (搜索) and Nextech Invest (搜索).
The financing will support the advancement of Khartis' lead program — the first oral, selective IGF-1R (搜索) inhibitor designed specifically for the treatment of thyroid eye disease (搜索) (TED) — as well as the continued development of the company's broader pipeline of oral small molecule medicines targeting clinically validated immunology pathways.
A Differentiated Approach to a High-Burden Disease
Thyroid eye disease (搜索) represents a significant unmet medical need. "TED remains a serious burden for a highly underserved patient population, where existing treatments come with real safety tradeoffs," said Craig Murphy, Chief Scientific Officer of Khartis. "We believe an oral, selective IGF-1R (搜索) inhibitor can change that equation, helping to substantially open the market with a safer, more durable patient-friendly option."
The company's selective, oral approach to inhibiting IGF-1R (搜索) is intended to differentiate from currently available therapies by offering a potentially safer and more convenient treatment option. "We believe Khartis' selective, oral approach to IGF-1R has the potential to meaningfully improve the treatment of thyroid eye disease (搜索), and we're excited to support the team as they advance the program toward the clinic and continue to expand the pipeline," said Heather Berger, venture partner at Forge Life Science Partners (搜索).
An Experienced Drug Discovery Team
Khartis was founded in 2024 by Robert Hoffman, CEO and Head of Drug Discovery; Craig Murphy, Chief Scientific Officer; and Chris LeMasters, Executive Chairman. The founders and many members of the company's scientific team previously worked together at XinThera (搜索), which was acquired by Gilead Sciences in 2023.
"Khartis has assembled an exceptional drug discovery team with a proven ability to translate compelling biology into differentiated medicines," said Heather Berger. "This financing reflects strong conviction in our team, our science, and the opportunity ahead," added Robert Hoffman. "With this backing, we will accelerate advancement of our lead program while continuing to do what this team does best: discovering and developing differentiated small molecule medicines against important, clinically validated targets."
Investor Support and Next Steps
Existing investors expressed continued confidence in the company's trajectory. "We've seen this team execute consistently since our Series A investment, and the progress they've made gives us tremendous confidence in what they can accomplish," said Michael Rome, Ph.D., managing director of Foresite Capital (搜索). "We're excited to deepen our investment as Khartis advances its lead program toward the clinic and builds a broader pipeline around the team's proven strengths in small molecule drug discovery."
Khartis was originally incubated within Foresite Labs and is backed by leading life sciences investors including Foresite Capital (搜索), Lilly Asia Ventures (搜索), Nextech Invest (搜索), Forge Life Science Partners (搜索), Longwood Fund (搜索) and Alexandria Venture Investments (搜索). The company is headquartered in San Diego, California.