Rayzebio, Inc.

Candid Therapeutics is committing up to $925 million for the rights to a trispecific T cell engager candidate developed by WuXi Biologics, further expanding its autoimmune disease pipeline. WuXi is eligible to get the cash split across upfront and milestone payments, as well as royalties on potential sales, according to a Monday release . San Diego-based Candid plans to finish IND-enabling studies for the unnamed preclinical program with an eye to starting first-in-human trials in the first half of 2026. The asset was developed via WuXi’s multispecific antibody platform called WuXiBody. The technology uses “novel engineering” to speed up the antibody drug development process by six to 18 months and cut production costs, according to the company. The deal “uniquely positions us with three TCE programs targeting BCMA, CD20, and CD19 in or near clinical development,” Candid CEO Ken Song said in the release. Song launched Candid in September 2024 with a capital raise of more than $370 million, less than a year after he oversaw the sale of RayzeBio to Bristol Myers Squibb for around $4.1 billion. Song’s latest venture has made several moves to grow its TCE portfolio of late. In December, Candid inked a trio of deals focused on discovering or developing T cell engagers with Nona Biosciences, Ab Studio and EpimAb Biotherapeutics. The partnership with EpimAb featured more than $1 billion in upfront and milestone payments. Other than the asset licensed from WuXi, Candid has a BCMAxCD3 bispecific antibody called CND106 that’s completed a Phase 1 dose-escalation trial in cancer and is now in development for autoantibody diseases. The company also has a CD20xCD3 bispecific dubbed CND261 that it’s advancing for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. WuXi Bio refers to itself as a CRDMO — a CDMO with a research service — and has been under the spotlight in the past year due to the Biosecure Act. Also on Monday, it said that it was selling a manufacturing facility in Ireland for $500 million to Merck.

On April 26, 2023, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) announced a significant development that placed the company in the spotlight. The announcement revealed a major leadership change: after eight years as CEO, Dr. Giovanni Caforio would step down, passing leadership to Chief Commercialization Officer Chris Boerner. This leadership transition not only marked the end of a chapter in Caforio’s career but also posed unprecedented challenges for Boerner. Bristol-Myers Squibb is facing the severe challenge of a patent cliff, which is a critical test for the company. To ensure a smooth transition, Caforio’s resignation did not take immediate effect; instead, a carefully planned transition period lasted until November 1, 2023, when he formally handed over leadership, ushering in a new era for Bristol-Myers Squibb. This leadership change has profound implications for BMS and its closely associated biotechnology partners. Recently, the company announced the termination of cell therapy collaboration agreements with Century Therapeutics and Immatics, marking significant decisions under Boerner’s tenure—and they are unlikely to be the last. Under Caforio's leadership, BMS achieved remarkable milestones. The official statement highly praised Caforio’s contributions, including his leadership of the landmark merger with Celgene, the launch of 12 new drugs, and the doubling of company revenues. These achievements have fostered a high-performance corporate culture and an engaged workforce. However, these accomplishments present both inspiration and pressure for Boerner. BMS faces challenges in innovative drug development due to the expiration of patents on its three revenue pillars: Revlimid, Eliquis, and Opdivo. Together, these drugs generated $26 billion in sales in 2023, accounting for nearly 60% of the company's total revenue. The impending patent expirations create a sense of urgency for the company. In response, BMS has been actively engaged in the M&A market, acquiring companies such as Karuna, Mirati, and RayzeBio for a combined total of approximately $22.9 billion. The company is also investing significantly in introducing innovative drugs, exemplified by the $8.3 billion licensing deal with Brii Biosciences for its dual-target ADC drug BL-B01D1. For Boerner, these extensive acquisitions and introductions pose a formidable challenge, requiring time for integration and digestion. At the financial report meeting on February 2, 2024, Boerner made his debut, presenting his comprehensive insights on the company’s future. Despite challenges like the patent cliff and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Boerner emphasized that core products such as Revlimid, Eliquis, and Opdivo will continue to generate cash flow, supporting the company’s innovative R&D pipeline. Boerner identified 2026 as the company's most challenging period, describing it as the “most critical risk exposure” due to the IRA’s impact taking effect in that year. Boerner’s strategic focus in the current phase is to "shorten the transition period as much as possible" by accelerating R&D while maintaining strict cost control. His core strategy involves prioritizing investments in high-potential projects and suspending lower-priority ones. For example, the acquisition of Karuna is not just about acquiring assets but also involves integrating its operating expenses. BMS needs to centralize management, improve efficiency, and free up resources for new assets. From the outset of his tenure, Boerner has emphasized the importance of repositioning underperforming products such as Abecma and Zeposia, ensuring they receive adequate resources to succeed. In July 2024, Eisai announced that its FRα ADC drug MORAb-202, which was part of a $3.1 billion collaboration, was returned by BMS. Despite high investment and strong performance in key areas, treatment-related adverse events such as interstitial lung disease/pneumonia limited its competitiveness. In August 2024, BMS terminated its partnership with Agenus for TIGIT/CD96 dual antibodies, leading to a $200 million loss. Similarly, collaborations such as the $3 billion investment with Immatics have also been terminated. These actions reflect Boerner's strategy of shortening transition periods and focusing on the future. So, who will be the next to face "return" at BMS?

Sofinnova Investments, one of the longest-standing biotech investment firms, has penciled in plans for a new $550 million fund, Endpoints News has learned. The Menlo Park, CA-based firm disclosed the plans in a Thursday night SEC filing . A spokesperson for the firm declined to comment on Friday. The new raise would join other large new funds from Flagship, Bain Capital Life Sciences , ARCH, Forbion , Dimension and Atlas Venture , among others this year. Leading Sofinnova are James Healy and Maha Katabi , both of whom have been on boards of multiple acquired biotechs in recent quarters. “The deal flow — it’s never been any better. Probably that’s a function of how public markets have corrected,” Katabi told Endpoints in February. “A lot more companies are interested in exploring more fully the availability of capital in private markets before going down the IPO path.” Sofinnova was on a roll with its most recent fund, called XI. That fund came in at $500 million , according to an SEC filing, about $150 million below its 2016 fund . The new fund is listed as fund XII. Multiple startups backed by fund XI went public via IPOs in the past two years, including RayzeBio, ArriVent , Rapport, and BioAge Labs. RayzeBio was quickly bought by Bristol Myers Squibb, and fellow portfolio company Aiolos Bio was also acquired by GSK. Sofinnova has backed ambitious projects and contributed to a bevy of large financings with XI. At least half a dozen companies from that fund raised megarounds this year. That includes BioAge, epilepsy and pain biotech Axonis , ADC startup OnCusp , cardiometabolic company Marea , in vivo CAR-T maker Capstan , Athena Countouriotis’ Avenzo and neuroscience biotech Seaport, which has raised two nine-figure financings this year. “If I look over our current funds, over the past two funds in particular or past five years, our average time to IPO is less than a year,” Healy told Endpoints in a September interview. “I would hope that Seaport would fit within our investment [strategy], and it would be outstanding if it could follow the trajectory that Karuna had. But of course, no guarantees.” He was on the board of schizophrenia drugmaker Karuna when BMS bought it for $14 billion. Many of the Karuna team is back together for their next bet on neuroscience at Seaport. The firm began in 1976 and has focused on biopharmaceuticals since 2007 . It had $3.7 billion in assets under management and committed capital as June 30. In August, it announced the addition of Maha Radhakrishnan as executive partner.