Circle Pharma announced on Wednesday, September 16, 2026 an oversubscribed $92.5 million Series E financing led by The Column Group, with participation from Nextech Invest, RA Capital Management, Euclidean Capital, and Eli Lilly and Company. The South San Francisco company said the money will take CID-165, which it describes as a first-in-class oral macrocyclic cyclin D1 RxL inhibitor, through early clinical development in ER-positive breast cancer and support its broader pipeline of cyclin-targeted macrocycles. Circle expects CID-165 to enter clinical development in the first quarter of 2027.
Moonwalk Biosciences announced Tuesday September 8, 2026 an oversubscribed $70 million Series B financing to advance first-in-class adipose tissue-targeted RNA interference (RNAi) medicines for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases. The round was co-led by Alpha Wave and YK Bioventures with participation from Eli Lilly and Company, Gaorong Ventures, and existing investors ARCH Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, and Future Ventures. Proceeds will move lead candidate MW101 toward first-in-human clinical studies in late 2027 and support the broader adipose-targeted siRNA pipeline. Moonwalk's approach uses siRNA delivery specifically to adipose tissue to modulate non-incretin pathways governing energy homeostasis, adipogenesis, lipolysis, and thermogenesis while minimizing systemic effects. The company claims preclinical models show reductions in body weight and fat mass with lean-muscle preservation — the same value proposition Enveda's ENV-308 and Amgen's MariTide are pitching from different mechanisms. Lilly's investor participation extends the Lilly obesity-adjacent equity portfolio that already includes stakes in Superluminal Medicines (MC4R agonist, $60M Series B September 3), Verve Therapeutics (base editing, acquired 2025), and others.
Superluminal Medicines announced Thursday September 3, 2026 an oversubscribed $60 million Series B financing round led by BVF Partners with participation from Deep Track Capital, Perceptive Advisors, RA Capital Management, Insight Partners, NVIDIA, Catalio Capital Management, Eli Lilly and Company, Cooley, and Gaingels. Proceeds will advance the company's lead clinical program (a selective, biased MC4R agonist) into Phase 1 for rare genetic forms of obesity including Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) and hypothalamic obesity, targeting Phase 1 initiation by end of 2026. Superluminal's technology platform uses AI plus GPCR-structural chemistry to design biased agonists with reduced off-target signaling. The MC4R agonist positioning is directly against Rhythm Pharmaceuticals's Imcivree (setmelanotide, the currently-approved MC4R agonist peptide for BBS and hypothalamic obesity) — a small-molecule alternative would have oral bioavailability advantages plus different tolerability profile. Eli Lilly's investor participation extends Lilly's obesity-adjacent equity portfolio.