Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) combine a monoclonal antibody, a cleavable linker, and a cytotoxic small-molecule payload. The antibody delivers the payload to the target-antigen-expressing tumor cell, and the linker releases the payload intracellularly. Approved ADCs including Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) and Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan) demonstrated that payload chemistry — beyond antibody selection alone — is now the primary axis of competitive differentiation.
The modality sits adjacent to peptide-drug conjugates (PDCs), which use targeting peptides in place of antibodies for smaller, more penetrant conjugates. Both classes share linker chemistry (often peptide-based cleavable linkers) and bioconjugation infrastructure. Novartis' July 2026 agreement to acquire UK biotech Myricx Bio for up to $1.5 billion ($1.1 billion upfront) illustrated the payload-race economics: the deal centered on a next-generation N-myristoyltransferase inhibitor (NMTi) payload platform and two lead ADC assets targeting B7-H3 and HER2. Novo Holdings and Sofinnova Partners were among the pre-deal investors. Approximately six PDCs are in Phase 3 trials with roughly 96 in earlier development.
Stories here cover ADC payload deals, linker-chemistry advances, and the peptide-drug conjugate parallel track. See [[novartis]] and [[myricx-bio]] for adjacent threads.
Sichuan Kelun-Biotech Biopharmaceutical (HKEX: 6990) announced Monday September 14, 2026 that Phase 3 registrational study results for trastuzumab botidotin — a novel HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate — versus T-DM1 (Roche's Kadcyla, trastuzumab emtansine) in HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic breast cancer have been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Trastuzumab botidotin produced 11.1 months median progression-free survival versus 4.4 months on T-DM1, a hazard ratio of 0.39 (61% reduction in risk of progression or death). Co-senior authors: Professors Xichun Hu and Hongxia Wang of Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, and Dr. Junyou Ge. The NMPA approved trastuzumab botidotin in October 2025 for adults with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who had received at least one prior anti-HER2 therapy. The T-DM1 comparator (approved 2013) has historically been the standard of care in this second-line setting, though Daiichi Sankyo/AstraZeneca's Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) has since taken market share on stronger DESTINY-Breast trial data. Kelun-Biotech has opened a Phase 2 study of trastuzumab botidotin in patients who previously received a topoisomerase inhibitor payload ADC (which includes Enhertu-treated patients). The Phase 3 result strengthens the case for global development beyond China.
Medicus Pharma (NASDAQ: MDCX) announced Wednesday September 2, 2026 a Co-Development and License Agreement with Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) granting Medicus an exclusive, sublicensable, royalty-bearing worldwide license to develop, manufacture, and commercialize PF-08046031 (CD228V, an early clinical-stage antibody-drug conjugate targeting melanotransferrin / CD228). Terms: $12 million upfront cash to Pfizer, an additional $15 million payable on the first anniversary of the effective date, plus up to $1 billion+ in aggregate milestone payments and low-double-digit tiered royalties on future net sales. Pfizer paid Medicus $2 million in development funding restricted to the CD228V program. Medicus retains sole authority and control of development, manufacture, regulatory approval, and commercialization; Pfizer holds review-and-comment rights on development plans and an option to fund development from the first registrational trial. PF-08046031 originated in the Seagen pipeline acquired by Pfizer in December 2023 and represents one of several Seagen-descended assets Pfizer has out-licensed since the acquisition.
DualityBio (HKEX: 9606) announced Friday August 28, 2026 a global collaboration and license agreement with Genentech (Roche Group) to develop next-generation antibody-drug conjugates on DualityBio's proprietary DUPAC (DualityBio Unique Payload Antibody Conjugate) platform. Terms: $45 million upfront to DualityBio plus more than $1 billion in aggregate development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments across all programs, with tiered royalties on annual net sales. DualityBio handles discovery through Phase Ia; Genentech takes over global clinical development and commercialization. The DUPAC platform is one of DualityBio's four proprietary ADC platforms and is dedicated to payloads with novel mechanisms of action designed to address resistance to existing topoisomerase inhibitor-based ADCs (Trodelvy, Enhertu, Datroway, and successors). The deal is Genentech's second Asia-based ADC alliance in a week and continues the pattern of large pharma buying diverse payload chemistries as ADC-first-line combinations expand.
Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) received European Commission marketing authorization Monday August 24, 2026 for Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan-hziy) in combination with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for first-line treatment of adults with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Approval criteria: PD-L1 combined positive score (CPS) ≥10 and no prior systemic therapy for metastatic disease. Trodelvy mechanism: an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) with an anti-Trop-2 monoclonal antibody linked to the SN-38 topoisomerase I inhibitor payload; when Trop-2 (trophoblast cell surface antigen 2) is expressed on tumor cells, Trodelvy binds and internalizes to release the cytotoxic SN-38 inside the cancer cell. The Keytruda addition provides checkpoint inhibitor activity against PD-L1-positive tumors. Positioning: the first and only antibody-drug conjugate plus immunotherapy combination approved for first-line metastatic TNBC in the EU's 27 member states, plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. The FDA had already approved the same combination in June 2026 based on the same clinical evidence. The approval extends Gilead's ADC commercial franchise. The ADC combination-therapy category (ADC + checkpoint inhibitor, ADC + targeted therapy) has attracted increasing investment across oncology as ADCs establish clinical value across breast, bladder, lung, and other solid tumors; adjacent peptide-drug conjugates (PDCs) with tumor-targeting peptides plus cytotoxic payloads are also expanding as a related modality.
Pathos AI announced Wednesday August 5, 2026 a $2.09 billion licensing deal with Jiangsu Alphamab Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. for a TROP2/HER3 bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). The deal extends the ADC modality deal-making cycle that has produced substantial cross-border capital deployment across 2025-2026, notably including Merck's Chugai ADC franchise deal, AbbVie's 2023 ImmunoGen acquisition, the ongoing Pfizer-Seagen (Seattle Genetics) commercial integration, and the emerging peptide-drug conjugate (PDC) franchise developments. The Pathos AI-Alphamab deal complements the July 6 Novartis-Myricx $1.5 billion peptide-drug-conjugate alliance (upfront + biobucks) covered on the site's July digest. TROP2 (trophoblast cell surface antigen 2) is a well-validated oncology target with existing approved ADCs including AstraZeneca-Daiichi Sankyo's Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan) for triple-negative breast cancer; HER3 is a differentiated payload delivery target with limited approved-drug precedent. The bispecific ADC combines the two payload-targeting mechanisms in a single molecule with the goal of expanding tumor-cell-targeting selectivity and reducing off-target toxicity relative to single-target ADCs. Pathos AI is a US oncology-focused biotech backed by AI-driven target identification and drug-discovery platforms.
Samsung Bioepis and Korean biotech IntoCell announced Wednesday July 22, 2026 that they have entered into a commercial license agreement for SBE303, one of the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates the two companies are jointly developing. SBE303 is a next-generation ADC cancer treatment targeting the Nectin-4 protein, combining Samsung Bioepis's proprietary humanized antibody with IntoCell's linker platform and a payload originally developed by IntoCell under patent license from China's Frontline. Samsung Bioepis is currently conducting a global Phase 1 clinical trial of SBE303 in the United States and Korea, with plans to evaluate safety and preliminary efficacy in 149 patients with advanced refractory solid tumors through July 2030. The deal extends Samsung Bioepis's strategic shift from a biosimilar manufacturer to a novel-drug developer, and adds to the July 2026 payload-and-conjugate consolidation wave alongside Novartis's July 6 $1.5 billion Myricx Bio acquisition (NMTi payload platform), Lonza's July 2 Nona Biosciences TfR1 blood-brain-barrier deal, SOTIO's July 14 FDA Fast Track Designation for SOT109 (CDH17 ADC), and Simris Group's July 16 appointment of former Heidelberg Pharma CEO Andreas Pahl to lead its cyanobacterial microcystin ADC payload platform.
SOTIO Biotech (a portfolio company of PPF Group) announced Tuesday July 14, 2026 that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track Designation to SOT109, its investigational potentially best-in-class antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), for the treatment of patients with advanced unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) who have exhausted standard treatment options. SOT109 targets cadherin 17 (CDH17), a cell-surface antigen expressed in more than 90% of CRC cases and broadly across gastrointestinal malignancies, supporting the case for broad clinical utility and a favorable therapeutic index. SOTIO expects to initiate a Phase 1/2 trial of SOT109 in patients with advanced unresectable or metastatic CRC in Q3 2026. Fast Track Designation allows more frequent FDA-sponsor interactions and eligibility for accelerated approval and priority review if criteria are met. The SOT109 program extends the broader payload-and-linker-chemistry investment thesis anchored by Novartis's July 6 Myricx Bio $1.5 billion NMTi acquisition and Lonza's July 2 Nona Biosciences TfR1 BBB-delivery deal.
Novartis announced Monday July 6, 2026 that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire UK biotech Myricx Bio for up to $1.5 billion ($1.1 billion cash upfront plus potential milestone payments) to advance next-generation ADC payload innovation. Myricx Bio developed a first-in-class N-myristoyltransferase inhibitor (NMTi) payload platform. NMT is an enzyme that maintains the function of certain proteins inside cells, and cancer cells rely on it to grow and survive; blocking NMT with a payload delivered via ADC disrupts those processes directly inside tumor cells. Myricx's two lead assets target B7-H3 and HER2 across multiple solid-tumor settings. The transaction is expected to close in H2 2026 subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals. The deal extends the payload-and-linker chemistry infrastructure that peptide-drug conjugates (PDCs), ADCs, and adjacent bioconjugate modalities share. Novo Holdings (through its portfolio company backing of Myricx) and Sofinnova Partners were among the pre-deal investors. Endpoints News framed the transaction as another 2026 signal that payload innovation, not antibody targeting alone, is driving competitive differentiation in the next-generation ADC race.
Pfizer presented updated Phase 1 data for sigvotatug vedotin (PF-08046047), an integrin β6-directed antibody-drug conjugate that carries the microtubule inhibitor MMAE through a cleavable linker, combined with pembrolizumab in non-small cell lung cancer. The early efficacy supports the ongoing first-line SigVie-003 Phase 3 trial, while SigVie-002 tests the conjugate as monotherapy in previously treated advanced NSCLC. The readout extends ASCO's targeted-conjugate theme from peptide scaffolds to antibody carriers sharing the same MMAE payload.
Corbus Pharmaceuticals reported updated CRB-701 (SYS6002) Phase 1/2 data at ASCO 2026, presented by Professor Yohann Loriot (Gustave Roussy) in the May 29 4:57 PM CDT gynecological cancer session (Abstract 5508). CRB-701 — a next-generation Nectin-4 antibody-drug conjugate with a site-specific cleavable linker, drug-antibody ratio of 2, and MMAE payload — demonstrated a confirmed objective response rate of 42.9% in second-line oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) at 3.6 mg/kg (median duration of response 6.3 months, PFS 5.6 months) and 34.4% in second-line cervical cancer (median DOR 8.0 months, PFS 4.3 months). Both tumor types express high Nectin-4 and are HPV-driven. The FDA granted CRB-701 two Fast Track designations. Corbus is on track to start the registrational TEMPO-1 study in 2L OPSCC in summer 2026 — a randomized 250-patient trial vs investigator's-choice monotherapy with ORR as the primary endpoint for potential accelerated approval. CRB-701 competes in the Nectin-4 space with Pfizer's Padcev (enfortumab vedotin) and Bicycle Therapeutics' bicyclic-peptide zelenectide pevedotin.
Corbus Pharmaceuticals announced ASCO 2026 abstracts featuring updated clinical data from the Phase 1/2 study of CRB-701 (SYS6002), a next-generation antibody-drug conjugate targeting Nectin-4. The oral presentation in cervical cancer is scheduled for Thursday May 29 at 4:57 PM CDT; the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) poster on Friday May 30 at 4:30 PM CDT. The data will include clinical response durability and HNSCC patient-subgroup analysis. Corbus reached broad alignment with the FDA on registrational-study designs in second-line HNSCC and cervical cancer, enabling potential accelerated approval based on objective response rate and full approval on overall survival. The company expects to initiate a registrational study for CRB-701 in second-line HNSCC mid-2026. CRB-701 targets the same Nectin-4 antigen as enfortumab vedotin (Padcev) and Bicycle Therapeutics' zelenectide pevedotin — the second-line HNSCC opportunity is the segment where the three programs will compete most directly.
Pfizer announced that data from more than 40 company-sponsored, investigator-sponsored, and collaborative research abstracts will appear at ASCO 2026 in Chicago (May 29–June 2). The slate spans Pfizer's diverse oncology pipeline including peptide-drug conjugate programs, bispecific T-cell engagers, and antibody-drug conjugates. Combined with previously announced ASCO 2026 acceptances from Bicycle Therapeutics, BriaCell, Greenwich LifeSciences, BioVaxys, and Immutep, the meeting is shaping up as the most peptide-and-immuno-conjugate-heavy ASCO in recent memory — building on the foundation laid at AACR 2026 in San Diego.