Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)

Sac-TMT significantly extended overall and progression-free survival for patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer by 6.9 months over chemotherapy in a Phase 3 trial—becoming the first TROP2-directed ADC to do so in this setting, Merck told BioSpace.

Extending both progression-free and overall survival, Genmab’s Rina-S “sets a high bar for future competition” in a market served by AbbVie, analysts said.

At the European Society for Medical Oncology meeting this weekend, Merck will showcase three late-stage trials of its Kelun-Biotech–partnered TROP2-directed antibody sac-TMT that VP of Chemistry Alan Northrup says gets the payload release “just right.”

Bracing for patent losses on its cornerstone product Darzalex, Genmab has bet its future on three cancer programs that will deliver pivotal readouts in quick succession.

Roche is offering $400 million upfront and over $15 billion in biobucks to team up with Hansoh Pharmaceutical in hopes of developing a portfolio of new antibody-drug conjugates using the latter’s in-house tech.

As trispecifics, cell engagers and other complex formats multiply, drug developers are seeking discovery and engineering partners to help navigate an expanding universe of molecular possibilities.

In this webinar, experts from SK pharmteco’s European and North American sites share practical experience addressing these challenges across the linker-payload development lifecycle—from facility and containment strategy through process and analytical development, scale-up, cleaning, and final product release. Case-based examples will illustrate how integrated chemistry, engineering, analytical, and industrial hygiene strategies can reduce technical risk and support the rapid transition of emerging ADC programs into GMP manufacturing.

BioNTech, Summit Therapeutics, GSK and Roche have made a splash at the ongoing World Conference on Lung Cancer taking place in South Korea. These companies and their partners have all shared new findings for their closely watched programs, highlighting overall survival benefits in various types of lung cancer.

The co-development deal comes after Pfizer reported a late-stage failure for a Seagen asset and the discontinuation of another investigational therapy developed by the company as a subsidiary of the pharma.

Through its DualityBio deal, Roche’s Genentech hopes to create antibody-drug conjugates with payloads that can circumvent growing cancer drug resistance.