The company's drug discovery platform evolved from super-resolution microscopy, which has the capability to track the behavior of proteins in live cells. The technology was developed by several collaborators including Xavier Darzacq, PhD, a co-founder of Eikon and a professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

"Eikon was founded on the vision that observing protein movement in living cells will yield important biological insights enabling the discovery of therapies that could not be identified by other means," Darzacq said. "Using an interdisciplinary approach that combines engineering and science, we have created an exciting new window into cell biology and pharmacology."

The company has also appointed Dr. Roger Perlmutter, PhD, as its new CEO.

The series A financing was led by the Column Group with participation from Foresite Capital, Innovation Endeavors, and Lux Capital.