Deerfield-backed Boulevard Bio embarks on ‘beautiful path to a cure’ with trio of immunology drugs

Now accepting nominations for the Fierce Innovation Awards - Submit your application today Biotech Deerfield-backed Boulevard Bio embarks on ‘beautiful path to a cure’ with trio of immunology drugs By Will Maddox Aug 12, 2026 6:30am Boulevard Bio Deerfield Management IgAN Deerfield Discovery and Development (3DC) Boulevard Bio has strolled out of stealth with $65 million in funding from Deerfield Management and three autoimmune disease candidates. The New York-based biotech is focused on B cell biology and was incubated by Deerfield Discovery and Development (3DC), the investment firm's internal therapeutics and research development engineer, according to an August 12 release. The company was co-founded by Austrian researcher and B cell expert Georg Schett, M.D., along with Deerfield Partner and 3DC CEO Frank Nestle, M.D.

Mahesh Karande, a former CEO of mRNA-focused Omega Therapeutics whose career also included a seven-year stint at Novartis, is leading Boulevard. After taking a year out of the industry to attend to his family, Karande told Fierce that upon connecting with the Deerfield team and other founders, “What really blew my mind is how aligned we were in terms of how to build companies.” He also noted the “deep focus on patient-centricity and not doing science just for the sake of doing science, but doing science that can actually make a difference in patients' lives.” The company’s lead asset, BLVD101, is a bispecific B cell-activating factor (BAFF) and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) antibody being developed for patients with the rare kidney disease IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Karande said the asset's dosing regimen is limited to just one injection every 12 weeks, compared to existing treatments that require weekly or monthly treatments.

Interim phase 1 data for the drug, which was developed at 3DC, shows the treatment was generally well-tolerated with a favorable safety profile, according to Boulevard. By inhibiting both BAFF and APRIL cytokines, BLVD101 is designed to limit the survival, maturation and overactivity of abnormal B cells that attack healthy tissue in autoimmune diseases. While Karande called the dosing of BLV101 a “complete game changer,” he added that “it's not a convenience play.” Instead, “it is a play where we are focused on long-term kidney protection with a much better outcome for patients in terms of how they manage this.” Last month, Vera Therapeutics received an FDA nod for its BAFF/APRIL inhibitor atacicept, which it in-licensed from Germany's Merck KGaA in 2020, which became the sixth drug approved for IgAN.

Marketed as Trutakna, it is administered as a weekly injection. Vertex also has its dual BAFF/APRIL inhibitor, called povetacicept, in development for the rare kidney disease. The biopharma shared a phase 3 win in March that demonstrated a 49.8% reduction in urine protein-to-creatinine ratio compared with placebo.

Further back in Boulevard’s own pipeline is BLVD201, a trispecific CD19/BCMA/CD3 T-cell engager (TCE) designed to treat severe B cell-driven autoimmune diseases. Boulevard licensed the TCE from China's METiS Techbio for $20 million upfront in June. The preclinical asset was developed with Metis’ NanoForge technology, which the Beijing-based biotech has touted as the “world’s first AI-driven nano-delivery platform.” “Over the past two decades, B cells have become recognized as central drivers of autoimmune disease, but addressing their complex biology likely requires the design of precision medicines that can be combined to target specific, sometimes-overlapping mechanisms and indications,” Boulevard's co-founder Schett said in the release.

“We founded Boulevard to meet that challenge, with multi-target strategies and a thoughtful selection of modalities to appropriately reach key disease drivers and alter the course of chronic illnesses,” Schett added. Boulevard shared fewer details about its third candidate, BLVD301, other than it being a novel target combination in B cell-driven autoimmune disease. Like BLVD201, the asset is also in the IND-enabling stage.

Karande told Fierce that the name Boulevard references “a beautiful path to a cure” and that the company has given him “renewed purpose.” “Boulevard is fundamentally founded on the deep understanding of B cell biology,” the CEO added. “We have looked at target pairings with diseases and developed what we believe are best-in-class or first-in-class medicines with tremendous intent to serve patients. “At the end of the day, we are here to set patients free of these burdens that they carry in autoimmune diseases,” he said.

Boulevard Bio Deerfield Management IgAN Deerfield Discovery and Development (3DC) Autoimmune Diseases Biotech