Vida Ventures Congratulates Aktis Oncology on Its Entry into the Public Markets
- Vida has partnered with Aktis since co-leading its Series A, supporting the company from discovery through IPO and establishing itself as one of Aktis' largest shareholders; Helen Kim, Vida Senior Managing Director, has served on the Board since 2021
- Brian Goodman, Ph.D., Managing Director at Vida Ventures and Co-Founder of Aktis, served as founding Chief Operating Officer, helping to establish the company's early operational, scientific, and strategic foundation
Vida Ventures ("Vida"), a next-generation life sciences venture firm, today congratulates Aktis Oncology (NASDAQ:AKTS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of alpha-emitting radiopharmaceuticals for the treatment of solid tumors. Aktis raised $318 million in its initial public offering, reflecting strong investor interest, its recently announced anchor investment by Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY), and pipeline momentum as the company enters the public markets.
Vida has supported Aktis since co-leading its Series A, beginning with early platform diligence and company building efforts and continuing through multiple private financings and strategic inflection points leading up to the IPO, with Vida's Helen Kim serving on the Aktis Board of Directors throughout this period. Vida is the second largest shareholder in the company leading up to the IPO.
"Aktis represents the type of company Vida was envisioned to build and support, grounded in differentiated science, built with operational rigor, and developed through hands-on partnership," said Helen S. Kim, Senior Managing Director at Vida Ventures and Board Member at Aktis. "As Aktis prepares to enter the public markets, we are proud of the role we've played in building the company and its potential to deliver transformative therapies for patients with cancer."
Aktis Oncology was co-founded by Brian Goodman, Ph.D., Managing Director at Vida Ventures, who served as the company's founding Chief Operating Officer until August 2022 and later, its Chief Business Officer until May 2024. Dr. Goodman helped translate foundational science into a scalable operating company working hand in hand with the management team led by Matthew Roden, Chief Executive Officer of Aktis, establishing critical capabilities and supporting Aktis' strategic collaboration with Eli Lilly, for a total deal valued at up to $1.2 billion.
"From the outset, our goal with Aktis was to build a company around a highly differentiated alpha-radiopharmaceutical platform based on miniproteins with the potential to meaningfully impact patients with solid tumors," said Brian Goodman, Ph.D., Managing Director at Vida Ventures and Co-Founder of Aktis. "That required not just strong science, but thoughtful company building by assembling the right capabilities, partnerships, and culture to support long-term execution. Seeing Aktis reach the public markets is a testament to the team and to the company's continued progress."
Founded in 2020, Aktis Oncology is developing targeted alpha-particle therapies designed to selectively deliver potent radioactive payloads to tumor cells while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. The company had previously raised approximately $346 million in private capital and is advancing a pipeline led by AKY-1189, an actinium-225–based radiopharmaceutical targeting Nectin-4–expressing tumors, and AKY-2519, targeting B7-H3–expressing tumors.
About Vida Ventures
Vida Ventures, LLC ("Vida"), founded by Arie Belldegrun, MD, is a next-generation life sciences investment firm comprised of scientists, physicians, entrepreneurs and investors, who are passionate about building and funding breakthroughs in biomedicine. Vida's mission is to bring science to life and advance transformative biomedical innovations that have the potential to make a meaningful difference for patients. Vida currently has approximately $1.8 billion of capital commitment from blue-chip institutional investors, including top-tier endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, pensions, financial institutions, family offices, fund-of-funds, and high net worth individuals. Vida has offices in Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and Fort Worth and is focused on identifying groundbreaking science and building innovative companies that lead to new areas of drug discovery and development. For more information on Vida Ventures, please visit www.vidaventures.com, on LinkedIn or follow on X @Vida_Ventures.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260109857776/en/
Jean- Philippe Kouakou-Zebouah
Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operating Officer
[email protected]