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.
