Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are a mature technology. The first ADC, Mylotarg, was initially approved in 2000, and there are now 14 approved agents in both leukemias and solid tumors. According to Clarivate’s Cortellis Drug Discovery & Intelligence, those drugs collectively accounted for $13.55 billion in sales in 2024 – a figure that Cortellis projects will rise to $16 billion in 2025.
Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd. announced Oct. 21 the signing of a license deal to codevelop, manufacture and commercialize two of Phrontline Biopharma Suzhou Co. Ltd.’s novel bispecific dual-payload antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates.
Kivu Bioscience Inc. has released new preclinical efficacy and safety data on KIVU-107, a novel PTK7-targeting antibody-drug conjugate with a DAR4 exatecan payload. KIVU-107 is designed to be highly stable in circulation with negligible free payload release, maximizing on-tumor activity while minimizing off-target toxicity.
The 2025 Annual Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) featured a track on tumor-agnostic therapies – the first time such a track has been included at ESMO, or at any major medical oncology meeting. “It’s a milestone,” Vivek Subbiah told the audience at a session on how to accelerate tumor-agnostic drug development.
A year and half from its inception, Adcytherix SAS has raised a €105 million (US$122 million) series A, enabling it to take the lead antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) program into clinical development next year.
Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) specialist Aimedbio Inc. announced Oct. 16 the signing of a potential $991 million deal with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH to license out its novel preclinical ADC asset targeting solid tumors, including KRAS mutations, which is set to enter phase I study next year.
A year and half from its inception, Adcytherix SAS has raised a €105 million (US$122 million) series A, enabling it to take the lead antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) program into clinical development next year.
Antibody-drug conjugate specialist Tubulis GmbH has raised a hefty €308 million (US$356 million) series C to expand clinical development of TUB-040, positioning its lead program for use in additional indications and as an earlier line of therapy.
Beijing Chempion Biotechnology Co. Ltd. has synthesized antibody-drug conjugates comprising antibodies targeting folate receptor α (FOLR1; FR-α) covalently linked to a cytotoxic drug through a linker reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Ovarian cancer remains unresponsive to immune checkpoint inhibitors due to its ability to suppress cytotoxicity from immune cells that are infiltrating the tumor, where the O-glycosylation pathway may be disrupted. Precision Biologics Inc. is developing PB-vcMMAE-5, an antibody-drug conjugate composed of the monoclonal antibody PB-223, which targets tumor-specific truncated core-2 O-glycans, conjugated to microtubule inhibitor MMAE and with a drug-to-antibody ratio of 3.92.