Startup Alumis raises $259 million as it prepares for psoriasis trial

San Francisco startup Alumis Inc. has raised $259 million in a bid to best big pharma’s work in plaque psoriasis.

Alumis announced its Series C round Wednesday and plans to move its lead drug into Phase 3 trials. Venture firm Foresite Capital, whose sister company Foresite Labs incubated Alumis, co-led the financing with Samsara BioCapital and venBio Partners.

Alumis’ lead drug, ESK-001, is an oral medicine designed to help patients with the most common type of psoriasis by inhibiting a signaling protein called TYK2. Research has shown that the TYK2 protein plays a role in diseases where the immune system overreacts, which has made it a popular drug target in recent years.

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