Abcuro has raised $66 million to move ulviprubart (ABC008) into a new Phase 3 clinical trial in inclusion body myositis (IBM). The company plans to begin the study later this year and will focus on people with less severe IBM.
Abcuro CEO Alex Martin told Endpoints News that the company has alignment with the FDA on a path forward for the new study.
The decision follows results from Abcuro's Phase 2/3 MUSCLE trial reported earlier this year. Although the trial did not meet its primary or key secondary endpoints in the overall study population, a pre-specified group of patients with less severe IBM showed more encouraging results.
In patients who began the trial with an IBM Functional Rating Scale (IBMFRS) score of 29 or higher, patients receiving either dose of ulviprubart declined by 1.3 IBMFRS points over 76 weeks, compared with 2.6 points for placebo—a 50% slowing in functional decline relative to placebo.
Cure IBM discussed these results in more detail in our March article, Ulviprubart in Inclusion Body Myositis—New Results and the Question of Clinically Meaningful Slowing.
Abcuro is now designing the next trial around patients with less advanced IBM, where the company believes ulviprubart has the best opportunity to slow progression. Details of the new Phase 3 study, including its eligibility criteria and study design, have not yet been announced.
The new financing means that development of ulviprubart in IBM is continuing and that Abcuro expects to begin another Phase 3 trial in 2026.
For the IBM community, this is encouraging news: ulviprubart remains an active treatment program, and a new trial focused on the group of patients who showed the strongest results is moving forward.
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Endpoints News: Abcuro gets $66M for Phase 3 in muscle-weakening condition
Clinical Trials for inclusion body myositis
by Kevin Dooley, MD
August 14, 2026