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Candid Therapeutics

A clinical-stage biotechnology company developing antibody therapies designed to treat autoimmune diseases by selectively depleting pathogenic B cells. Candid Therapeutics focuses on T-cell engager (TCE) antibodies that redirect immune cells to eliminate autoreactive B cells involved in autoimmune pathology.

Company Overview

Candid Therapeutics develops immune-modulating therapies intended to treat autoimmune diseases through targeted depletion of B cells. Its approach centers on bispecific antibodies that recruit T cells to attack B-cell populations responsible for producing disease-driving autoantibodies.

The company is advancing a pipeline of T-cell engager antibodies designed to achieve deeper and more durable B-cell depletion than existing antibody therapies.

Headquarters and Global Presence

Candid Therapeutics is headquartered in San Diego, California, United States.

The company operates as a research-focused biotechnology organization conducting clinical development through international trial networks.

Founding and History

Candid Therapeutics was established in 2024 with a strategy focused on developing T-cell engager antibodies for autoimmune disease.

The company launched with significant venture backing and built its early pipeline through acquisitions and licensing transactions involving bispecific antibody programs.

In March 2026, Rallybio announced an agreement to merge with Candid Therapeutics, with the combined company expected to operate under the Candid name and continue advancing its autoimmune pipeline.

Therapy Areas and Focus

Candid’s development programs target autoimmune diseases driven by pathogenic B cells.

Key areas include:

Autoantibody-driven autoimmune diseases
Neuromuscular autoimmune disorders such as myasthenia gravis
Systemic autoimmune and inflammatory diseases

Technology Platforms and Modalities

Candid develops antibody therapeutics designed to recruit immune cells to eliminate pathogenic B-cell populations.

Key modalities include:

Bispecific T-cell engager antibodies
Multispecific antibodies targeting multiple B-cell antigens

These therapies are designed to bind both a B-cell target antigen and CD3 on T cells, triggering immune-mediated elimination of autoreactive B cells.

Key Pipeline Programs

Selected programs include:

Cizutamig, a BCMA × CD3 bispecific antibody being studied for autoimmune diseases after initial clinical evaluation in oncology.
CND261, a CD20 × CD3 bispecific antibody designed to target multiple B-cell subtypes across autoimmune indications.
CND319 and CND460, trispecific antibody programs in preclinical development targeting multiple B-cell antigens.

Key Personnel

Ken Song, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

Strategic Partnerships and Financing

Candid launched with significant venture financing from institutional healthcare investors and venture capital firms.

The planned merger with Rallybio is intended to combine clinical programs and provide funding to advance the company’s T-cell engager pipeline through later-stage development.

FAQ Section

Many autoimmune diseases are driven by B cells that produce pathogenic autoantibodies and sustain chronic immune activation. Therapies that remove these B-cell populations can reduce disease activity.

However, existing antibody therapies often produce incomplete or temporary B-cell depletion. Candid’s strategy is to use T-cell engager antibodies to achieve deeper and more sustained elimination of disease-driving B cells.

T-cell engagers have been widely studied in oncology, where they redirect immune cells to attack cancer cells. Candid is applying this concept to autoimmune disease by targeting B cells instead of tumor cells.

The approach could replicate the depth of immune cell depletion seen with cell therapies while remaining compatible with standard antibody manufacturing and dosing.

BCMA is expressed on mature B cells and plasma cells responsible for producing antibodies. In autoimmune disease, long-lived plasma cells can continue producing pathogenic antibodies even after other immune cells are depleted.

Targeting BCMA may therefore allow therapies to remove antibody-producing cells that are difficult to eliminate with conventional B-cell therapies.

Cizutamig is one of Candid’s most advanced programs and serves as an early clinical test of the company’s T-cell engager strategy in autoimmune disease.

The antibody was initially evaluated in oncology before being repositioned for autoimmune indications.

Recent clinical results from cell therapies and deep B-cell depletion strategies have shown that aggressive immune reset approaches can induce long-term remission in certain autoimmune diseases.

Companies developing antibody-based approaches that replicate this effect may offer a scalable alternative to complex cell therapies.

The proposed merger combines Candid’s autoimmune pipeline with Rallybio’s resources and public-company infrastructure. The transaction also includes a large financing intended to support multiple clinical programs through key development milestones.

Key developments include: