Candid Launches With $370M, Aims for T Cell Engager Leadership

Candid Therapeutics, a burgeoning biotech company, has recently emerged with an ambitious goal to revolutionize treatments for autoimmune diseases. Ken Song, previously the CEO of RayzeBio and instrumental in its $4.1 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb, will helm the company. Officially launched on Monday, Candid Therapeutics aims to become a leader in the T cell engager market, buoyed by a substantial capital raise.

The company has secured over $370 million in seed funding from a distinguished group of investors, including Third Rock Ventures, OrbiMed, Foresite Capital, and LifeSci Venture Partners. Additional support came from Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, Fairmount, TCGX, and venBio Partners, who co-led the funding effort.

Candid’s initial pipeline is particularly noteworthy due to a strategic three-way merger, incorporating assets from Vignette Bio and TRC 2004. This merger has provided Candid with two promising bispecific T cell engagers. The first, CND106, targets the B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA), a protein often overexpressed in patients with multiple myeloma. Vignette Bio secured the rights to CND106 from EpimAb, a Shanghai-based company, for $60 million upfront and potential milestones totaling $575 million.

The second key asset, CND261, was acquired from TRC 2004. This candidate targets the CD20 antigen, commonly found on B cells and often present in abnormal amounts in certain lymphomas and leukemias. CND261 was licensed from Genor Biopharma, another Chinese biotechnology company.

Both CND106 and CND261 also interact with the CD3 antigen on T-cells. This dual targeting mechanism enables the drugs to engage the body’s immune system more effectively, focusing it on the target B cells. Although Candid has not yet specified the exact conditions these drugs will address, the company’s focus will be on autoimmune diseases.

Ken Song expressed optimism about the new venture’s potential, suggesting that the therapies under development could surpass the clinical and commercial achievements of well-known drugs like Humira and Rituxan. “The drugs we are developing at Candid have the potential to go above and beyond the clinical and commercial success of Humira and Rituxan,” Song stated. “We can possibly make history by changing the paradigm in how autoimmune diseases are treated.”

The launch of Candid comes on the heels of Song’s successful navigation of RayzeBio’s acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb—a deal first announced in late December 2023 and finalized by February 2024. 

Joining Song in leading Candid is an experienced team including Timothy Lu, who will serve as chief medical and scientific officer. Lu has a notable background in developing oral IL-17 therapies at DICE Therapeutics, which was acquired by Eli Lilly for $2.4 billion in June 2023. Bernie Hyunghe, formerly of Viridian Therapeutics, will take on the role of chief technology officer, while Arvind Kush will act as chief financial and business officer.

With a robust financial foundation and a pipeline of potentially groundbreaking therapies, Candid Therapeutics is poised to make significant strides in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, aiming to set new standards in the biopharmaceutical industry.

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