Pfizer’s former chemistry whiz debuts Khartis Therapeutics with $95M for thyroid eye disease pill

Now accepting nominations for the Fierce Innovation Awards - Submit your application today Biotech Pfizer’s former chemistry whiz debuts Khartis Therapeutics with $95M for thyroid eye disease pill By Darren Incorvaia Aug 13, 2026 9:00am thyroid eye disease series B Emerging Biopharma Fundraising Three years after Robert Hoffman sold XinThera to Gilead, the veteran Pfizer chemist has unveiled his latest venture. Hoffman co-founded Khartis Therapeutics in 2024 with other former leaders of XinThera, after Gilead bought the latter biotech mainly for its promising oncology small molecules. On Thursday, San Diego-based Khartis officially emerged from stealth with a $50 million series B round that brings the company’s total fundraising haul to $95 million.

The series B was led by Forge Life Science Partners, with Longwood Fund and Alexandria Venture Investments also pitching in alongside existing investors Foresite Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures and Nextech Invest. Khartis’ primary goal is to push a potential pill for thyroid eye disease (TED) into clinical trials. In TED, inflammation behind the eye causes bulging, irritation and a suite of other discomfiting symptoms.

Khartis’ candidate is designed to target insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R), the same protein already drugged by Amgen’s first-in-class blockbuster Tepezza and Viridian Therapeutics’ recently approved Lumvoa. Both these approved medicines are administered as IV infusions, a much more involved procedure than popping a pill. “TED remains a serious burden for a highly underserved patient population, where existing treatments come with real safety tradeoffs,” Craig Murphy, Ph.D., Khartis’ co-founder and chief scientific officer, said in an August 13 release.

“We believe an oral, selective IGF-1R inhibitor can change that equation, helping to substantially open the market with a safer, more durable patient-friendly option.” The company plans to launch its first clinical trial for the pill in the first quarter of 2027. In addition to its TED candidate, Khartis also has three other earlier-stage drugs that have also been developed internally. “This financing reflects strong conviction in our team, our science and the opportunity ahead,” CEO Hoffman said in the release.

“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.” TED has long proven a vexing disease to treat, with Immunovant and Alumis recently pulling back from their struggling infused drug candidates. Other therapies are still in the works from Yarrow Bioscience and Ethyreal Bio—but, as antibodies, both of these assets also require an IV. Hoffman served as vice president of chemistry at XinThera after previously working as a research chemist at Pfizer for more than three decades.

At Khartis, he’s keeping one foot in the science world as head of research while also assuming the CEO mantle for the first time. Murphy, too, was a vice president at XinThera before its sale to Gilead, heading up the immunology department. XinThera’s former CEO Chris LeMasters has also joined Khartis as executive chairman; before XinThera, he was chief operating officer at antifungal biotech Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, leading up to its 2021 acquisition by Hoffman’s old employer Pfizer.

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