UCB has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Candid Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $2.2 billion, marking a significant expansion of its immunology pipeline and reinforcing its strategy to address severe autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
The transaction includes an upfront payment of $2 billion, with an additional $200 million tied to future milestone achievements. The acquisition is expected to close between the end of the second quarter and early third quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
At the center of the deal is cizutamig, Candid’s lead investigational therapy and a potential best-in-class bispecific antibody designed as a T-cell engager (TCE). The therapy targets BCMA on plasma cells and CD3 on T-cells, enabling the immune system to selectively destroy disease-causing cells. Importantly, cizutamig has been engineered to maintain strong therapeutic activity while minimizing cytokine release, a common safety concern in immunotherapies.
The drug candidate has already been evaluated in more than 100 patients across multiple myeloma and autoimmune disease studies and is currently being tested in over 10 autoimmune indications. Although promising, cizutamig remains an investigational therapy and has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or other regulatory bodies.
UCB’s leadership described the acquisition as a key milestone in its innovation-driven growth strategy. CEO Jean-Christophe Tellier said the addition of cizutamig represents a major technological advancement and aligns with the company’s goal of achieving an “immune reset” for patients with severe immune-mediated diseases. He emphasized that the therapy could potentially transform treatment standards and improve quality of life for patients with limited options.
The acquisition also strengthens UCB’s broader immunology platform, complementing its recent partnership with Antengene. Together, these moves expand UCB’s capabilities across multiple B-cell targets and disease mechanisms, enabling a more comprehensive and biology-driven approach to treating autoimmune disorders.
Candid Therapeutics has been developing a pipeline of multi-specific TCE antibodies aimed at selectively depleting harmful B-cell populations. This modular approach is designed to achieve deeper and more durable disease control by targeting multiple aspects of immune dysfunction.
Ken Song, Chairman and CEO of Candid, expressed confidence that UCB’s global expertise in drug development and commercialization will help accelerate the advancement of its pipeline and bring innovative therapies to more patients.
Despite the scale of the acquisition, UCB stated that the financial impact will remain manageable within its existing framework. The company reaffirmed its 2026 outlook, projecting revenue growth in the high single-digit to low double-digit range and continued improvement in profitability.
Advisors on the deal include Lazard for UCB, while Jefferies LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as joint lead financial advisors to Candid.
The acquisition underscores increasing momentum in the biotech sector toward next-generation immunotherapies, particularly those leveraging targeted immune cell engagement to tackle complex diseases.