Well-funded Alumis advancing TYK2 entrant in crowded field

Although newly renamed Alumis’ TYK2 inhibitor lags behind a handful of others already in the clinic, crossover investors have joined VCs in a new $200 million series B round with which the biotech hopes to show that its asset is best in class.

Launched last year as Esker Therapeutics, Alumis Inc. believes ESK-001 has greater selectivity for TYK2 over JAK-1 than competing inhibitors of the tyrosine kinase. The company is advancing the program first to treat psoriasis as part of a broader precision immunology strategy, using analytics to match patient subsets with the right therapies...