$66 Million Injected into Abcuro's Ulviprubart as It Seeks Stage-Dependent Effect

Abcuro has secured $66 million in Series D funding to advance its lead candidate ulviprubart, an anti-KLRG1 monoclonal antibody. This investment follows a disappointing Phase II/III trial where ulviprubart missed statistical significance in the overall patient population.

However, the study showed that patients with less severe disease, defined as an IBMFRS score above 29, experienced a 50% slowing of disease progression. The new study aims to confirm whether this subgroup signal reflects a genuine stage-dependent treatment effect.

The company hypothesizes that depleting pathogenic KLRG1-positive T cells may have greater impact earlier in the disease, before muscle damage becomes irreversible. Abcuro will initiate the new study in Q4 2026 after discussions with the US FDA, with top-line results anticipated in the second half of 2028.

The total capital raised by Abcuro now stands at approximately $463 million, following a previous Series C round led by NEA in early 2025 and a Series B co-led by Redmile Group and Bain Capital Life Sciences in 2023.