UCB to Buy Candid Therapeutics for Up to $2.2 Billion

By Adria Calatayud

UCB said it agreed to buy Candid Therapeutics for up to $2.2 billion, in a deal that seeks to bolster the Belgian pharmaceutical company's pipeline of experimental treatments for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Brussels-based UCB said Sunday that it would pay $2 billion upfront and up to $200 million subject to future targets to acquire Candid. Its latest acquisition follows a licensing agreement with China's Antengene valued at up to $1.18 billion in March, and a deal to buy epilepsy-therapy developer Neurona Therapeutics for up to $1.15 billion last month.

Privately held Candid is developing a portfolio of experimental drugs to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and its lead candidate, cizutamig, is a so-called bispecific antibody being tested in multiple early-stage clinical trials across a number of indications, UCB said.

"We consider cizutamig as a potential transformative asset," UCB Chief Executive Jean-Christophe Tellier said.

UCB said the acquisition, expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter or early third quarter subject to certain closing conditions, doesn't change its most recent guidance for 2026.

Write to Adria Calatayud at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-04-26 0254ET