Khartis Therapeutics has raised $50 million in Series B funding to advance its pipeline of oral small molecule therapies targeting immunological and chronic diseases, bringing total capital raised to $95 million. Forge Life Science Partners led the round, with participation from Longwood Fund and Alexandria Venture Investments alongside existing investors Foresite Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures, and Nextech Invest.
The financing will support Khartis’ lead program, an oral selective IGF-1R inhibitor designed specifically for thyroid eye disease, along with additional oral small molecule programs targeting clinically validated immunology pathways.
Founded in 2024, Khartis was established by CEO and Head of Drug Discovery Robert Hoffman, Chief Scientific Officer Craig Murphy, and Executive Chairman Chris LeMasters. Many members of the team previously worked together at XinThera, which Gilead Sciences acquired in 2023.
Khartis was originally incubated within Foresite Labs and is headquartered in San Diego.
KEY QUOTES:
“Khartis has assembled an exceptional drug discovery team with a proven ability to translate compelling biology into differentiated medicines. We believe Khartis’ selective, oral approach to IGF-1R has the potential to meaningfully improve the treatment of thyroid eye disease.”
Heather Berger, Venture Partner at Forge Life Science Partners
“This financing reflects strong conviction in our team, our science, and the opportunity ahead. 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.”
Robert Hoffman, CEO and Head of Drug Discovery at Khartis Therapeutics
“TED remains a serious burden for a highly underserved patient population, where existing treatments come with real safety tradeoffs. We believe an oral, selective IGF-1R inhibitor can change that equation.”
Craig Murphy, Chief Scientific Officer of Khartis Therapeutics
