Khartis Therapeutics has emerged from stealth after securing a $50 million Series B financing, bringing the San Diego biotechnology company’s total capital raised to $95 million. The new round was led by Forge Life Science Partners, with participation from Longwood Fund and Alexandria Venture Investments, while existing backers Foresite Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures and Nextech Invest also joined the financing. Khartis plans to use the capital to advance a pipeline of oral small molecule medicines aimed at immunological and chronic diseases, with its lead program focused on thyroid eye disease.
Financing Backs Lead Thyroid Eye Disease Program
The company’s lead program centers on an oral, selective inhibitor of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor, or IGF-1R, which Khartis describes as the first therapy of its kind designed specifically for thyroid eye disease. The financing is expected to move the program toward clinical development while also supporting additional small molecule programs directed at clinically validated immunology pathways. Khartis is positioning the oral approach as a potentially more convenient treatment option for patients, while seeking to address safety and durability limitations that the company says remain with existing therapies.
Investor Support Expands in Series B
Forge Life Science Partners joined Khartis as the lead investor in the Series B, expanding a syndicate that already included several specialist life sciences funds. Heather Berger, a venture partner at Forge, said the investor sees potential in the company’s selective oral approach to IGF-1R and in the broader drug discovery capabilities of the team. Foresite Capital, which invested earlier in Khartis and incubated the company through Foresite Labs, also increased its backing as the biotech moves from research-stage development toward the clinic.
Experienced Drug Discovery Team
Khartis is led by co-founders Robert Hoffman, who serves as CEO and head of drug discovery, Chief Scientific Officer Craig Murphy and Executive Chairman Chris LeMasters. Hoffman, Murphy and several members of the scientific team previously worked together at XinThera, a biotechnology company acquired by Gilead Sciences in 2023, giving the group experience in developing small molecule drug candidates and navigating an acquisition. Khartis is seeking to build on that track record by focusing its discovery strategy on established biological targets where oral, selective medicines could offer differentiated treatment profiles.
Broader Small Molecule Pipeline
Although thyroid eye disease is the company’s first disclosed focus, Khartis is developing a broader portfolio of oral therapies for immune-mediated and chronic conditions. The company said the Series B will allow it to continue discovering and developing medicines against clinically validated targets rather than concentrating its resources solely on the lead IGF-1R program. This approach gives Khartis the potential to build multiple development assets around the same core small molecule discovery capabilities, while the progress of its thyroid eye disease program will provide an early test of the company’s development strategy.
The $50 million Series B gives Khartis fresh funding to advance its lead thyroid eye disease program and increases the company’s total financing to $95 million as it steps out of stealth. Backing from Forge Life Science Partners and returning investors provides the company with additional resources to move its selective oral IGF-1R inhibitor toward the clinic while continuing to expand its immunology pipeline. Khartis now enters its next stage with an experienced founding team, a clearly defined lead program and a financing base designed to support the transition from drug discovery into clinical development.