UCB bought Candid Therapeutics for $2 billion upfront, plus up to $200 million in development milestones, cutting off a planned reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed Rallybio and stepping directly into Gilead’s lane on BCMAxCD3 T-cell engagers. No per-share figure: Candid hadn’t gone public yet.
The closest comp is Gilead’s March buyout of Ouro Medicines, a rival BCMAxCD3 developer, for $1.675 billion upfront and up to $500 million in milestones. UCB paid a $325 million upfront premium over that, though the all-in totals land at roughly $2.2 billion each.
What UCB actually gets: cizutamig, a BCMAxCD3 bispecific on the cusp of phase 2. The drug kills BCMA-expressing B cells and plasma cells, echoing the CAR-T mechanism, and it’s shown clean early safety: fewer than 15% of the first 47 autoimmune patients had cytokine release syndrome, all mild. UCB says 68 patients have now been treated with “predominantly low-grade, manageable CRS.” Phase 2 targets myasthenia gravis and interstitial lung disease, planned for mid-2026.
Candid’s founder, Ken Song, M.D., built the pipeline mostly on Chinese assets licensed from EpimAb and Genor biopharma, after leading RayzeBio to a $4.1 billion BMS buyout. The series A was $370 million in 2024.
Rallybio isn’t walking away empty-handed: Candid could owe it a termination fee of up to $50 million. Cullinan Therapeutics, which licensed a BCMAxCD3 TCE last year, is now among the last independent players in the space. UCB’s $325 million upfront premium over Ouro only makes sense if cizutamig’s phase 2 delivers.
Diana Kowalski