UCB, a global biopharmaceutical company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Candid Therapeutics, a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company redefining the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases through novel T-cell engagers (TCEs).
Under the terms of the agreement, UCB will pay $2 billion upfront payments and up to $200 million in potential future milestone payments. The transaction is expected to close by the end of Q2 or early Q3 2026.
This transaction supports UCB’s ambition to bring differentiated solutions to people with severe immune-mediated diseases by focusing on areas of high unmet need and illustrates the company’s inorganic strategy for growth.
Cizutamig, Candid’s lead investigational asset, is positioned as a potential best in class BCMA TCE for autoimmune diseases. It is a bispecific antibody directed to BCMA on plasma cells and CD3 on T-cells, enabling T-cell–mediated cytotoxicity against BCMA-expressing plasma cells and B-cells. Purposely designed to maintain cytotoxicity while limiting cytokine release, cizutamig has been clinically evaluated in over 100 patients with multiple myeloma and autoimmune diseases and is currently in multiple clinical studies in over 10 autoimmune indications.
Jean-Christophe Tellier, CEO, UCB, said, “We consider cizutamig as a potential transformative asset, that complements our existing programs, and is poised to redefine treatment expectations for severe, underserved immune-mediated diseases, offering the potential to deliver meaningful improvements in patient outcomes and quality of life.”
In addition to cizutamig, Candid is developing a differentiated pipeline of multi-specific TCE antibodies designed to enable deep, targeted depletion of pathogenic B-cell populations in immune-mediated diseases to achieve immune reset. Together, these programs apply a modular, multi-antigen targeting strategy to address complementary B-cell subsets, supporting the potential for more complete elimination of pathogenic B-cell populations and more durable disease control.
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