A small biotech in suburban Seattle has secured $35 million to commercialize what could become the first oral pill for a liver disease that, according to WHO data, afflicts an estimated five percent of hepatitis B patients worldwide—and has virtually no treatment options in the United States.
EIT Pharma disclosed the oversubscribed Series A round in late August, saying Propel Bio Partners led the financing with backing from Good Ventures, Arrowtown, and unnamed additional investors. The timing matters: three weeks earlier, the Food and Drug Administration had accepted the Kirkland, Washington company's drug application for lonafarnib, an oral therapy for chronic hepatitis D that EIT is branding as Jitixib.
The capital positions EIT to prepare for a potential commercial launch, assuming FDA clearance. At present, only one approved treatment exists for hepatitis D in the U.S.—Gilead Sciences' Hepcludex, an injectable therapy approved in June—leaving patients without a pill-based alternative. EIT's bet is that an oral option will find a market, though the patient population remains relatively small and underserved.
Blocking the virus at the cellular level
Lonafarnib belongs to a class of drugs called farnesyltransferase inhibitors, designed to disrupt how the hepatitis D virus replicates inside liver cells. Unlike Hepcludex, which requires injection, lonafarnib is taken by mouth and stores at room temperature, according to EIT's website. The company's new drug application draws on results from a Phase 3 trial called D-LIVR, which EIT presented at a European liver disease conference in Barcelona earlier this year.
The competitive landscape remains sparse but evolving. Vir Biotechnology is developing a monoclonal antibody-siRNA combination for hepatitis D and has licensed it to Norgine for commercialization in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Chronic hepatitis D, which occurs only in patients who already carry hepatitis B, can accelerate liver damage and cirrhosis. WHO data cited in an FDA review document suggest the global burden may be higher than previously understood, though prevalence estimates vary.
EIT also holds rights to peginterferon lambda-1a for hepatitis D and acute respiratory infections, though that program is currently on clinical hold by the FDA, according to the company.
Building toward launch readiness
CEO Leen Kawas, who previously led Athira Pharma through its 2020 IPO before launching Propel Bio Partners as managing general partner, said the new capital "allows us to continue advancing lonafarnib through the review process and, subject to FDA approval, prepare to bring it to patients." The phrasing is careful—regulatory approval is never guaranteed—but EIT has been staffing up in anticipation.
The company recently brought on Mike Gibbs as chief commercial officer. Gibbs previously held vice president-level marketing roles at AstraZeneca and Sanofi, suggesting EIT is serious about building a commercial operation. The biotech also employs a chief development officer and functional heads in regulatory affairs, chemistry and manufacturing controls, and medical affairs. LinkedIn data from mid-year showed EIT with fewer than 10 employees, though that count has since grown.
EIT acquired the lonafarnib program from Eiger BioPharmaceuticals in a transaction finalized in 2024, according to SEC filings. The company operated under the name Eiger InnoTherapeutics for a period, a detail that surfaced in court documents filed in early 2025.
Co-founder Jeffrey Glenn, a Stanford physician-scientist who researches hepatitis D and host-targeting antiviral strategies, said at the time of the FDA filing acceptance that "patients living with chronic hepatitis D urgently need novel therapies that target distinct steps in the HDV lifecycle." Glenn's academic work has focused on how viruses co-opt cellular machinery, a line of inquiry that underpins lonafarnib's mechanism.
What happens next
The FDA has not publicly disclosed a target action date for EIT's application, and the company declined to provide a timeline in its August announcement. Standard review timelines can stretch 10 months or longer, though priority designations can accelerate the process. EIT did not indicate whether it received such a designation.
Richard Kayne of Propel Bio Partners, the lead investor, struck an optimistic note in the funding announcement. "We're proud to support EIT Pharma at this pivotal stage as it works to bring important new therapies to underserved patient communities," he said—language that reflects both the unmet need and the commercial uncertainty inherent in rare disease markets.
For now, EIT waits. The company has capital, a regulatory submission in motion, and a team assembling the pieces of a commercial launch. Whether lonafarnib clears FDA review remains the open question.
