# Crescendo Biologics
Crescendo Biologics Ltd is a private, clinical-stage immuno-oncology biotechnology company based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, which develops targeted immune cell enhancing therapeutics built from its patented Humabody VH single-domain antibody platform; it was still operating as an independent company through April 2024, and a July 2026 independent review found no disclosed acquisition or wind-down, though that later status rests on a weak directory-type source and is unverified.[1](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/04/10/2860629/0/en/Crescendo-Biologics-presents-preclinical-data-on-lead-clinical-candidate-CB307-and-unveils-its-first-2-in-1-immune-cell-engager-CB699-at-AACR-2024.html) • [2](http://biobase.whitefordresearch.com/companies/crescendo-biologics)
| Key facts | Detail |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Cambridge, UK[3](https://www.crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/180430-Crescendo-Series-B-Fundraise-PR-FINAL.pdf) |
| Sector | Biotechnology; immuno-oncology, single-domain antibody therapeutics[1](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/04/10/2860629/0/en/Crescendo-Biologics-presents-preclinical-data-on-lead-clinical-candidate-CB307-and-unveils-its-first-2-in-1-immune-cell-engager-CB699-at-AACR-2024.html) |
| Platform | Humabody VH: transgenic mouse platform generating 100% human VH domain building blocks[3](https://www.crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/180430-Crescendo-Series-B-Fundraise-PR-FINAL.pdf) |
| Largest round | $70 million (€57 million) Series B, 30 April 2018, led by Andera Partners[3](https://www.crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/180430-Crescendo-Series-B-Fundraise-PR-FINAL.pdf) |
| Later financing | $32 million additional financing, July 2023, with new investor Kreos Capital (unverified directory data)[2](http://biobase.whitefordresearch.com/companies/crescendo-biologics) |
| Major deal values | Takeda collaboration up to $790 million; BioNTech deal $40 million upfront plus milestones over $750 million[3](https://www.crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/180430-Crescendo-Series-B-Fundraise-PR-FINAL.pdf) • [4](https://crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/220110-Crescendo_BioNTech-announcement_FINAL.pdf) |
| Lead clinical candidate | CB307, a half-life extended CD137 x PSMA bispecific, in the Phase 1b POTENTIA trial[1](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/04/10/2860629/0/en/Crescendo-Biologics-presents-preclinical-data-on-lead-clinical-candidate-CB307-and-unveils-its-first-2-in-1-immune-cell-engager-CB699-at-AACR-2024.html) |
| Status | Independent and active through April 2024; no public Series C, IPO, acquisition, or wind-down found as of July 2026 (unverified, weak source)[2](http://biobase.whitefordresearch.com/companies/crescendo-biologics) |
## The Humabody platform
Crescendo's products are built from what the company calls Humabody VH: a patent-protected transgenic mouse platform that generates 100% human VH domain building blocks, the small variable regions of heavy-chain antibodies.[3](https://www.crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/180430-Crescendo-Series-B-Fundraise-PR-FINAL.pdf) Fierce Biotech, reporting on the 2018 financing, described the company the same way, as built on a transgenic mouse platform generating heavy-chain antibody variable domains.[5](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/crescendo-raises-70m-to-trial-bispecific-t-cell-engager)
The company's stated rationale is that these small domains can be configured into mono- and multi-functional therapeutics with properties that full-size conventional IgG antibodies cannot reach. According to the company, the format allows superior biodistribution and results in larger therapeutic windows compared to conventional IgG approaches.[3](https://www.crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/180430-Crescendo-Series-B-Fundraise-PR-FINAL.pdf) In practice the pipeline molecules are multi-specifics: CB307 pairs CD137 (4-1BB) with PSMA, and CB699 combines CD40, CD137, and mesothelin (MSLN) in a single molecule.[1](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/04/10/2860629/0/en/Crescendo-Biologics-presents-preclinical-data-on-lead-clinical-candidate-CB307-and-unveils-its-first-2-in-1-immune-cell-engager-CB699-at-AACR-2024.html)
## Funding history
*Disclosed rounds and deals, with the caveat that the pre-2018 round detail rests on a single independent research note and is not corroborated by the primary press releases:*
- **Seed (unverified directory data):** £4.5 million, October 2009, reported led by [Sofinnova Partners](https://www.edgepedia.org/sofinnova-partners).[2](http://biobase.whitefordresearch.com/companies/crescendo-biologics)
- **Series A (unverified directory data):** £17.5 million, December 2013, reported led by Imperial Innovations, with a £2.0 million second close in April 2014 from EMBL Ventures and an undisclosed Astellas Venture Management follow-on in December 2014.[2](http://biobase.whitefordresearch.com/companies/crescendo-biologics)
- **Series B:** $70 million (€57 million), completed 30 April 2018, led by [Andera Partners](https://www.edgepedia.org/andera-partners) (formerly Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners) with its Biodiscovery V fund, joined by Quan Capital (Quan Venture Fund I) and existing investors Sofinnova Partners, IP Group, EMBL, and Takeda Ventures. The company described it as the largest disclosed Series B biotech financing in Europe in 2018.[3](https://www.crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/180430-Crescendo-Series-B-Fundraise-PR-FINAL.pdf) Fierce Biotech independently reported the same amount and purpose.[5](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/crescendo-raises-70m-to-trial-bispecific-t-cell-engager)
- **BioNTech deal (January 2022):** $40 million upfront, comprising a cash payment and an equity investment from BioNTech, plus research funding, with eligibility for development, regulatory, and commercial milestones totalling more than $750 million and tiered royalties on global net sales; BioNTech holds exclusive worldwide commercialization rights to products arising from the three-year multi-target discovery collaboration.[4](https://crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/220110-Crescendo_BioNTech-announcement_FINAL.pdf)
- **July 2023 financing (unverified directory data):** $32 million, reported 24 July 2023, including new investor Kreos Capital alongside Sofinnova, Andera, IP Group, BioNTech, Takeda, and Quan Capital.[2](http://biobase.whitefordresearch.com/companies/crescendo-biologics)
Before the Series B, the company was working with more than $30 million in seed and Series A money, according to Fierce Biotech.[5](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/crescendo-raises-70m-to-trial-bispecific-t-cell-engager) No valuation for any round has been publicly disclosed.[2](http://biobase.whitefordresearch.com/companies/crescendo-biologics)
## Pipeline and partnerships
The 2018 Series B was designated to advance the lead program, CB307, which stimulates local activation of tumor-specific T cells, into the clinic and to expand the internal pipeline.[3](https://www.crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/180430-Crescendo-Series-B-Fundraise-PR-FINAL.pdf) By April 2024, CB307, a half-life extended CD137 x PSMA bispecific for end-stage prostate cancer, was in the Phase 1b POTENTIA trial (NCT04839991), an open-label dose escalation and cohort expansion study assessing safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy as monotherapy and in combination with pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA) in adults with PSMA-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.[1](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/04/10/2860629/0/en/Crescendo-Biologics-presents-preclinical-data-on-lead-clinical-candidate-CB307-and-unveils-its-first-2-in-1-immune-cell-engager-CB699-at-AACR-2024.html)
At the AACR annual meeting in April 2024 the company also unveiled CB699, a half-life extended CD40 x CD137 x MSLN trispecific, which it described as its first "2 in 1" immune cell engager and the second candidate in its proprietary pipeline, with preclinical findings supporting progression into clinical development.[1](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/04/10/2860629/0/en/Crescendo-Biologics-presents-preclinical-data-on-lead-clinical-candidate-CB307-and-unveils-its-first-2-in-1-immune-cell-engager-CB699-at-AACR-2024.html)
Partnerships announced by the company as of January 2022 included a global multi-target discovery collaboration with Takeda, worth up to $790 million according to the 2018 announcement; a clinical development partnership with Cancer Research UK for CB213, a PD-1xLAG-3 multi-specific Humabody; and an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Zai Lab for ZL-1102 (formerly CB001), an anti-IL-17A Humabody that had recently completed a Phase 1 clinical trial.[3](https://www.crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/180430-Crescendo-Series-B-Fundraise-PR-FINAL.pdf) • [4](https://crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/220110-Crescendo_BioNTech-announcement_FINAL.pdf) The BioNTech collaboration, signed in January 2022, gave BioNTech exclusive worldwide commercialization rights to program outputs.[4](https://crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/220110-Crescendo_BioNTech-announcement_FINAL.pdf)
## Current status
The company was still operating past 2018, beyond the last event in its founding-year record: it presented at AACR in April 2024 with the POTENTIA trial ongoing, and a July 2026 independent review found no public Series C, IPO, acquisition, or wind-down event in the reviewed sources, though that review is a weak directory-type source and the 2026 status should be treated as unverified.[2](http://biobase.whitefordresearch.com/companies/crescendo-biologics) • [1](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/04/10/2860629/0/en/Crescendo-Biologics-presents-preclinical-data-on-lead-clinical-candidate-CB307-and-unveils-its-first-2-in-1-immune-cell-engager-CB699-at-AACR-2024.html) The reviewed sources likewise disclosed no valuation for any financing event.[2](http://biobase.whitefordresearch.com/companies/crescendo-biologics)
## References
1. [Crescendo Biologics presents preclinical data on CB307 and unveils CB699 at AACR 2024, company press release via GlobeNewswire, 10 April 2024](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/04/10/2860629/0/en/Crescendo-Biologics-presents-preclinical-data-on-lead-clinical-candidate-CB307-and-unveils-its-first-2-in-1-immune-cell-engager-CB699-at-AACR-2024.html)
2. [Crescendo Biologics — Whiteford Research Biobase, independent research note reviewed 2 July 2026](http://biobase.whitefordresearch.com/companies/crescendo-biologics)
3. [Crescendo Biologics Ltd. Raises $70 Million (€57 Million) in Series B Financing, company press release, 30 April 2018](https://www.crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/180430-Crescendo-Series-B-Fundraise-PR-FINAL.pdf)
4. [BioNTech and Crescendo Biologics multi-target discovery collaboration announcement, company press release, 10 January 2022](https://crescendobiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/220110-Crescendo_BioNTech-announcement_FINAL.pdf)
5. [Crescendo raises $70M to trial bispecific T-cell engager, Fierce Biotech](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/crescendo-raises-70m-to-trial-bispecific-t-cell-engager)
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*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*
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