Antibody-drug conjugate technology on the path to productivity providing plenty of opportunities

STUTTGART, Germany I December 2, 2015 I Only a few years ago, before the times of immuno-oncology and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapeutics, antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) were the most exciting investment opportunity in oncology which nobody wanted to miss. Since then, the exaggerated expectations have waned because the early successes with Kadcyla and Adcetris could not be repeated as quickly as investors had hoped. Antibody-drug conjugates as a class, i.e. therapeutic antibodies empowered by intracellular delivery of cytotoxic drugs, so far did not prove as a money-making machine.

Some of the technological obstacles encountered on the way of maturation of antibody-drug conjugates were inappropriate patient selection, a narrow therapeutic window, drug resistance, and the heterogeneity of ADCs generated by conventional ADC technologies. Numerous technology as well as some major pharmaceutical companies have successfully worked on finding next generation ADC technology solutions to these problems.

In a brand-new report released by La Merie Publishing the field of antibody-drug conjugates was analyzed in depth by profiling more than 90 companies, more than 100 ADC drug candidates and more than 26 ADC technologies and components. The report entitled „Antibody-Drug Conjugates 2016: Perspectives & Opportunities – a Pipeline, Technology, Stakeholder & Business Analysis“ also described and analyzed business deals in the ADC field, e.g. collaboration and license agreements, mergers and acquisitions, financial transactions (divestments, public offerings, private equity and venture capital fund-raising).

The prospects for success of ADC drug candidates remain good and are based on a well-filled pipeline, increasing adoption of next generation ADC technologies, lessons learned from failures, a balanced mixture of stakeholders and a variety of options for funding of ADC developments. About 70 ADCs are in clinical and pre-IND stages of development and at least the same number of ADC programs are in preclinical R&D. However, targets are still a bottleneck with the attractive consequence that companies with successful target identification capabilities are highly rewarded by investors and business partners.

About La Merie

La Merie Publishing is a Business Intelligence enterprise fully dedicated to provide high quality R&D information to the biopharmaceutical industry. La Merie offers individual consultancy services and publishes reports and periodicals. For more information visit www.lamerie.com and www.PipelineReview.com, the Biologics News Center and Online Store of La Merie Publishing.

SOURCE: La Merie Publishing