UCB has struck a deal to acquire Candid Therapeutics for $2 billion upfront, hijacking a planned reverse merger with Rallybio to challenge Gilead for an emerging opportunity for T-cell engagers (TCEs).
Candid has risen rapidly in recent years. Fresh from leading radiopharma player RayzeBio to a $4.1 billion takeover by Bristol Myers Squibb, Ken Song, M.D., founded Candid and raised a $370 million series A round in 2024. Candid represented a bet that TCEs could replicate the encouraging clinical data on CAR-Ts in autoimmune diseases, while supporting outpatient dosing with off-the-shelf medicines.
UCB has bought into the idea. Two months after licensing a drug candidate from Antengene, the Belgian biotech has moved to significantly expand its TCE pipeline by paying $2 billion upfront and up to $200 million in development milestones for Candid.
The acquired pipeline is led by cizutamig, a BCMAxCD3 TCE that is on the cusp of phase 2. By killing BCMA-expressing B cells, plasmablasts and plasma cells, the bispecific antibody could deplete cells that drive autoimmune diseases. The mechanism, which echoes the approach of CAR-Ts, could drive lasting improvements in autoimmune disease patients.
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Candid has generated early evidence that its one-and-done approach can achieve long-term remission, reporting deep depletion of B cells and plasma cells in phase 1. The effects suggest cizutamig may reset the immune system.
In March, Candid revealed plans to merge with the Nasdaq-listed Rallybio and raise $505 million. At the time, Song said on a conference call with investors that Candid planned to move cizutamig into phase 2 studies in myasthenia gravis and interstitial lung disease in mid-2026.
The plan reflected early evidence of efficacy and of limited cytokine release syndrome (CRS), an adverse event associated with TCEs and CAR-T cell therapies. Fewer than 15% of the first 47 autoimmune patients to receive cizutamig had CRS, Song said, and all the cases were mild. UCB said (PDF) Candid has now treated 68 autoimmune disease patients and seen “predominantly low-grade, manageable CRS.”
Ouro Medicines is developing a rival BCMAxCD3 TCE for use in autoimmune disorders. Gilead struck a deal to buy Ouro for $1.675 billion upfront, plus up to $500 million in milestones, in March. Galapagos will work with Gilead to develop Ouro’s programs.
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The back-to-back buyouts of Ouro and Candid leave Cullinan Therapeutics, which licensed a BCMAxCD3 TCE last year, among the independent players in the space. Genrix Bio, the Chinese biotech that Cullinan licensed the asset from, is running a phase 1 trial that is expected to deliver initial data late this year.
Beyond cizutamig, Candid is running a phase 1 study of CND261, a CD20xCD3 bispecific, in rheumatoid arthritis. Cizutamig and CND261 have both been tested in blood cancers. Candid’s preclinical pipeline includes a pair of trispecific TCEs, one that engages CD19, CD20 and CD3 and another aimed at BCMA, CD19 and CD3.
The young biotech built its pipeline mostly on Chinese assets licensed from the likes of EpimAb and Genor biopharma.
Candid originally planned to develop the candidates itself using the $505 million financing associated with the Rallybio reverse merger. The terms of the merger require Candid to pay Rallybio a termination fee of up to $50 million in some circumstances.
