SAN DIEGO– 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.”
