Boulevard Bio launches with $65M to develop targeted autoimmune antibody therapies

Aug 12, 2026

Boulevard Bio launched on August 12, 2026, with $65 million in funding from Deerfield Management to develop targeted autoimmune therapies. Co-founded by immune reset pioneer Georg Schett and former Sanofi chief scientific officer Frank Nestle, the startup is led by chief executive officer Mahesh Karande. Boulevard Bio's pipeline includes BLVD-101, a bispecific antibody for IgA nephropathy designed for dosing every 12 weeks, and BLVD-201, a trispecific T-cell engager licensed from METiS TechBio.

Boulevard Bio stealth exit

▪Boulevard Bio officially emerged from stealth on August 12, 2026, as a biotechnology startup focused on precision immunology and immune reset therapies.
▪Mahesh Karande, who previously served as the chief executive officer of Omega Therapeutics, joined Boulevard Bio as its chief executive officer approximately one year prior to its August 2026 launch.

Deerfield sixty-five million funding

▪Frank Nestle, a partner at Deerfield Management and chief executive officer of 3DC, serves as a scientific co-founder of Boulevard Bio.
▪Boulevard Bio launched with $65 million in funding, with investment firm Deerfield Management serving as its sole financial backer.
▪Boulevard Bio was incubated and developed within Deerfield Discovery and Development Corporation (3DC), the biotech discovery and development arm of Deerfield Management.

BLVD-101 bispecific antibody

▪Boulevard Bio's lead drug candidate, BLVD-101, is an internally discovered bispecific antibody designed to target the BAFF and APRIL proteins to treat IgA nephropathy.
▪Unlike fusion proteins, the bispecific antibody design of BLVD-101 is intended to offer independent coverage of both the BAFF and APRIL targets.
▪Preliminary Phase 1 clinical trial results in healthy volunteers support dosing Boulevard Bio's BLVD-101 via injection once every 12 weeks, or approximately every three months.

IgAN treatment competition

▪In the year preceding Boulevard Bio's launch, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two drugs for IgA nephropathy: Vera Therapeutics' Trutakna and Otsuka Pharmaceutical's Voyxact.
▪Vertex Pharmaceuticals is developing povetacicept, a competing BAFF and APRIL inhibitor for IgA nephropathy, which is expected to receive an FDA decision in November 2026.
▪Vera Therapeutics' approved drug Trutakna requires weekly dosing, while Vertex Pharmaceuticals' drug candidate povetacicept requires monthly dosing.

Georg Schett co-founder

▪German physician and researcher Georg Schett, a pioneer in using CAR T-cell therapy to reset the immune system in autoimmune diseases, is a co-founder of Boulevard Bio.
▪Although Georg Schett is known for his work in CAR T-cell therapy, Boulevard Bio has no immediate plans to develop CAR-T therapies.
▪Georg Schett did not bring any specific molecules or technologies to Boulevard Bio, but instead contributed his immunology expertise to help develop the startup's pipeline.

B cell depletion pipeline

▪Boulevard Bio's third pipeline candidate, BLVD-301, is an internally discovered preclinical therapy designed to target a novel combination of proteins in B cell-driven autoimmune diseases.
▪Boulevard Bio licensed BLVD-201 from China-based drug developer METiS TechBio in June 2026 for $20 million upfront, with potential future milestone payments of up to $1.6 billion.
▪Boulevard Bio's second drug candidate, BLVD-201, is a trispecific T-cell engager designed to target CD19, BCMA, and CD3 to deplete disease-driving B cells.