EpimAb Biotherapeutics, Inc.

iStock, Artur Plawgo Candid Therapeutics, which is repositioning two antibodies for autoimmune indications, will be led by Ken Song who was previously CEO of RayzeBio and oversaw its $4.1 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb. Candid Therapeutics officially launched on Monday with a strong capital raise that the startup hopes will help drive it to frontrunner status in the T cell engager market. Aiming to develop “potentially transformative” therapies for autoimmune diseases, Candid is debuting with more than $370 million in seed funding from a high-powered roster of backers, including Third Rock Ventures, OrbiMed, Foresite Capital and LifeSci Venture Partners. Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, Fairmount, TCGX and venBio Partners co-led Candid’s funding. For its initial pipeline, Candid pulled off a three-way merger by acquiring Vignette Bio and TRC 2004, giving it two bispecific T cell engagers. The first, dubbed CND106, targets the B-cell maturation antigen, a protein typically found in mature B cells and when overexpressed is usually a driving factor of multiple myeloma. Vignette last week licensed CND106 from Shanghai-based EpimAb for $60 million upfront and $575 million in potential milestones. Candid’s second pipeline asset is CND261, which comes from TRC 2004. It binds to the CD20 antigen, which is also found on B cells and may be expressed in abnormal levels in certain lymphomas and leukemias. CND261 comes from another Chinese biotech, Genor Biopharma, and was also licensed by TRC last month . Both CND106 and CND261 also target the CD3 antigen on T-cells, allowing them to bridge the body’s immune system with the target B cells. Candid has yet to reveal what specific indications these candidates will target, but CEO Ken Song revealed that the startup will focus its efforts on autoimmune diseases. “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 said in a statement. “We can possibly make history by changing the paradigm in how autoimmune diseases are treated.” For Song, Candid’s launch comes just months after he successfully wrapped up the $4.1 billion acquisition deal involving RayzeBio—which he previously led as its president and CEO—and Bristol Myers Squibb. The agreement was first announced in late December 2023 and was closed in February 2024 . To help lead Candid, Song will be joined by Timothy Lu, chief medical and scientific officer, who was involved in the development of oral IL-17 therapies at DICE Therapeutics, which was acquired in June 2023 by Eli Lilly for $2.4 billion. Viridian Therapeutics alum Bernie Hyunghe will serve as Candid’s chief technology officer, while Arvind Kush will act as its chief financial and business officer.

SAN DIEGO--( BUSINESS WIRE )--Candid Therapeutics, Inc. (“Candid”), a biotechnology company dedicated to developing potentially transformative drugs to address autoimmune diseases, announced its official launch today. Recent groundbreaking clinical data has showcased the pivotal role of a specific subset of immune cells, B lymphocytes, in autoimmune diseases. B lymphocytes lead to autoimmune pathology by producing autoantibodies that attack the body's own tissues and also through antigen presentation and cytokine release. Selective depletion of B lymphocytes has shown unprecedented clinical efficacy in highly refractory patients across multiple autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and myasthenia gravis. Candid is developing T-cell engager (“TCE”) antibodies that can deplete specific B lymphocyte cell populations and aims to be the first company to bring these novel therapies to market. To accelerate development of and position Candid to become the leader in TCE antibodies for autoimmune diseases, Candid acquired Vignette Bio and TRC 2004 through a simultaneous three-way merger and multi-step financing. This acquisition integrates two cutting-edge bispecific TCEs: CND106, a BCMAxCD3 bispecific antibody from Vignette Bio, which was initially founded by Foresite Labs who exclusively licensed ex-China rights for the drug candidate from EpimAb Biotherapeutics. CND261, a CD20xCD3 bispecific antibody from TRC 2004, which was established through a collaboration between Two River and Third Rock Ventures who exclusively licensed ex-China rights for the drug candidate from Genor Biopharma. CND106 and CND261 have both completed Phase 1 dose escalation studies with combined data in over 130 oncology patients. Both drug candidates have shown potential to become best-in-class therapies for various autoimmune diseases. The founding Candid team includes an accomplished set of seasoned entrepreneurs who have repeatedly advanced nascent ideas into late-stage development products and commercialization. Ken Song, MD as Chairman, President and CEO has successfully led several life science companies with over $5.5 billion in realized shareholder value. Most recently he led RayzeBio, a radiopharmaceutical company, from concept to Phase 3 in just over 3 years and negotiated a $4.1 billion sale of the company earlier this year to Bristol Myers Squibb. Timothy Lu, MD, PhD as Chief Medical and Scientific Officer was instrumental in the clinical development of novel oral IL-17 drugs for autoimmune diseases at DICE Therapeutics which was acquired last year by Eli Lilly, where he stayed on until joining the Candid team. Bernie Huyghe, PhD as Chief Technology Officer has over 30 years of experience in manufacturing of biologics and other complex therapeutic products and prior to Candid, was overseeing two Phase 3 antibody programs at Viridian Therapeutics. Arvind Kush as Chief Financial and Business Officer has had an illustrious career first as a managing director in healthcare banking at Bank of America before transitioning to RayzeBio as CFO where he navigated a highly successful oversubscribed IPO in September 2023. In conjunction with the merger, Candid has successfully raised over $370 million in capital from an extensive roster of investors, which includes a recently completed financing co-led by Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, Fairmount, TCGX, and venBio Partners. Other notable healthcare investors supporting the company include Foresite Capital, Third Rock Ventures, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Samsara BioCapital, Qiming Venture Partners USA, OrbiMed, Boxer Capital, Redmile Group, Vida Ventures, Two River, Franklin Templeton, LifeSci Venture Partners, Mirae Asset Capital Life Science, Polaris Innovation Fund, Soleus Capital and other reputable institutional and mutual fund investors. This substantial financial backing highlights strong investor confidence in Candid's purposeful approach and strategic vision, positioning the company for significant impact in bringing forth first-in-class therapies to patients with autoimmune diseases. “TCE antibodies have the most promise as scalable and patient friendly drugs to deplete B cells for treatment of a myriad of autoimmune conditions and represents a once in a generation development opportunity,” said Dr. Ken Song, Chairman, President, and CEO of Candid Therapeutics. “The drugs we are developing at Candid have the potential to go above and beyond the clinical and commercial success of Humira® and Rituxan® and I am thrilled to be leading the Candid team knowing we can possibly make history by changing the paradigm in how autoimmune diseases are treated.” About Candid Therapeutics, Inc. Candid Therapeutics is an innovative biotechnology company dedicated to advancing the treatment of a range of immunological conditions. Established in 2024 and headquartered in San Diego, CA, Candid is driven by a team of repeatedly successful entrepreneurs with deep expertise and strong execution abilities. Supported by a distinguished syndicate of leading healthcare investors, Candid is committed to discovering and developing cutting-edge therapeutic programs that address significant unmet medical needs in immunology. About Vignette Bio, Inc. Vignette Bio was formed in 2024. The company was incubated by Foresite Labs, an incubation platform led by an experienced team who believe that the tools of data science, when applied with scientific rigor, will greatly accelerate scientific discovery and the development of new products and services that benefit patients. Vignette Bio was backed by Foresite Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, Samsara BioCapital, and Mirae Asset Capital Life Science. About TRC 2004 TRC 2004 was a company co-founded by Two River and Third Rock Ventures. Two River has founded some of the most successful cell therapy companies in the industry, including Kite Pharma (acquired by Gilead Sciences, Inc.). Third Rock Ventures is a leading healthcare venture firm that has raised $3.8 billion dollars since its inception, fueling investment in over 60 portfolio companies that have delivered numerous products to market across multiple therapeutic modalities and indications

Ken Song knows how to step on the gas pedal. His new company, called Candid Therapeutics , emerged from stealth on Monday morning with more than $370 million to its name and two clinical-stage T cell engagers, a class that’s successful in oncology and could have a future in the bustling autoimmune field, much like cell therapies. The biotech exec launched the new startup less than a year after selling the late-stage radiopharma company RayzeBio to Bristol Myers Squibb for about $4.1 billion . Song took RayzeBio from Series A to IPO in three years and Nasdaq debut to M&A exit in about three months. Shortly after the RayzeBio deal closed in February, Song set up Candid as a shell company and started a hunt for clinical-stage drugs in oncology, pain, autoimmune and other areas, exploring nearly 50 opportunities. The emerging data on cell therapies in autoimmune diseases caught Song’s eye. Some cell therapy makers like Caribou Biosciences and Nkarta have either added autoimmune indications to their pipeline or shifted away from oncology, but Song felt there was another approach. T cell engagers could be easier for patients to take than cell therapies, and they also have a less complex manufacturing process and thus are easier to scale, he said. “To me, it was fairly obvious that an antibody-based approach, like with a T cell engager, could be the right solution,” Song said in an interview. He quickly lined up investors, who he said were willing to dish out even more than the $370 million that they finally landed on, and inked two acquisitions: Vignette Bio, and TRC 2004. Vignette came from Foresite Labs, and the somewhat stealth-stage TRC 2004 derives from Third Rock Ventures and Two River, which is run by Kite Pharma founder Arie Belldegrun. Vignette said last week it would pay $60 million upfront for a BCMAxCD3 bispecific from EpimAb Biotherapeutics, and it could eventually spend another $575 million in biobucks. And TRC 2004 broke cover last month with a “double-digit million” upfront, plus $443 million in milestones, for a CD20xCD3 bispecific antibody from Genor Biopharma. Candid also has a discovery effort looking at two new ideas for next-generation T cell engagers, Song said. Candid said its two T cell engager antibodies — renamed CND106 and CND261 — have clinical data in more than 130 patients in various cancers, but are now being repositioned for autoimmune diseases. Amgen opened the field , and other drugmakers are following up with T cell engagers of their own , mostly for cancers . The company plans to put the two antibodies in the clinic early next year, Song said. Candid has already picked a set of lead indications, which it is not yet disclosing. The startup is considering testing them in similar, or identical, indications, and will run the trials relatively in parallel. “It’s really unclear, where we sit today, as to what the right T cell target is and what’s going to provide the best therapeutic index,” Song said. “We want to be data-driven, and we’re OK pitting both of our molecules against each other in the same indication because it’s about finding what is going to be the best drug for a given disease.” Song thinks Candid’s T cell engagers can “go above and beyond the clinical and commercial success of Humira and Rituxan.” He acknowledged it’s a bold claim. AbbVie’s Humira was the best-selling drug of all time. “When you look at the data that is emerging with T cell depletion, by targeting different T cell antigens, you’re seeing remissions happening in patients who are highly refractory to treatment,” Song said. “That’s what really attracted me toward coming into this sector … The efficacy is unquestionable and it’s profound, transformative efficacy that we’re observing.” Candid has a long list of blue-chip names, including Venrock, Fairmount Funds, TCGX, venBio Partners, Samsara BioCapital and more than a dozen others. The $370 million includes funding that investors put into Vignette and TRC 2004, but “the bulk” of it is new money patched together by Candid, according to Song. A “lion’s share” is still available after factoring in the upfront payments for the licensing deals, which included “some equity,” the CEO said. He expects the financing to last “several years.” Alongside Song in the C-suite is RayzeBio CFO Arvind Kush; chief medical and scientific officer Timothy Lu, who led IL-17 autoimmune drug development at Eli Lilly’s DICE Therapeutics; and CTO Bernie Huyghe, who recently led late-stage trials of antibodies at Viridian Therapeutics. Candid has about 18 employees so far.