Eight Biotech Companies Spearheading the Antibody Drug Conjugate New Wave
•February 11, 2026
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Why It Matters
The innovations and partnerships highlighted signal a rapid expansion of the ADC market, offering more precise cancer therapies and attracting substantial capital and big‑pharma interest.
Key Takeaways
- •New ADC firms target novel antigens beyond HER2
- •Advanced linker and payload technologies improve safety and efficacy
- •Major financing rounds signal investor confidence in ADC market
- •Strategic partnerships with big pharma accelerate development pipelines
- •ADC market projected to exceed $36 billion by 2034
Pulse Analysis
Antibody‑drug conjugates have moved from experimental concepts to a validated therapeutic class, yet early successes exposed limitations in payload release, drug‑antibody ratios, and target selection. The eight companies profiled illustrate how the sector is now tackling these challenges head‑on. Adcendo’s uPARAP‑directed ADC and MBrace’s EphA5 program exemplify a trend toward non‑traditional antigens, expanding the treatable patient pool beyond HER2‑positive cancers. Meanwhile, platforms such as Araris’s AraLinQ and Tubulis’s Tubutecan focus on precise conjugation chemistry, aiming to reduce heterogeneity and improve therapeutic windows, a critical step for broader regulatory acceptance.
Financing activity underscores the market’s momentum: series B rounds of $135 million for Adcendo, €344 million series C for Tubulis, and multi‑hundred‑million‑dollar deals with Chugai, Taiho, and BioNTech demonstrate deep investor confidence. These capital infusions not only fund clinical trials but also enable strategic collaborations that grant large pharma access to cutting‑edge ADC technologies without building them in‑house. The resulting ecosystem accelerates candidate progression, as seen with DualityBiologics’ HER2‑low ADC entering pivotal phase 3 under BioNTech’s banner, and MediLink’s B7‑H3 ADC securing a $570 million licensing pact with Roche.
Looking ahead, industry forecasts predict double‑digit annual growth, with the global ADC market expected to surpass $36 billion by 2034. The convergence of innovative payloads, refined linkers, and diversified target portfolios positions ADCs to capture a larger share of oncology pipelines, while the influx of partnership deals suggests that major pharmaceutical players view ADCs as a cornerstone of future cancer treatment strategies. This momentum is likely to drive further M&A activity, larger public offerings, and an expanding pipeline that could reshape the therapeutic landscape over the next decade.
Eight biotech companies spearheading the antibody drug conjugate new wave
Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) combine the targeting ability of monoclonal antibodies with the cell‑killing effects of potent cytotoxic drugs. Over the past decade, the approach has moved from experimental concept to a clinically validated modality, with a growing number of ADCs approved across hematological and solid tumors, and companies keep pushing.
As more ADCs have reached the clinic, their limitations have also become clearer. Toxicity linked to payload release, variable drug loading, and target selection have all shaped the next phase of innovation. In response, a new generation of companies is focusing less on whether ADCs work and more on how to make them work better by refining linker chemistry, exploring alternative payloads, and expanding the range of targets and tumor types that can be addressed.
In this article, we take a look at eight ADC‑focused companies.
Adcendo
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Headquarters: Copenhagen, Denmark
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Founded: 2017
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Lead candidate: ADCE‑D01
Adcendo’s distinction lies in its focus on non‑traditional ADC targets that aren’t broadly employed by the first generation of approved ADCs. Its lead program, ADCE‑D01, targets the uPARAP receptor, a cell‑surface receptor involved in collagen uptake and matrix remodeling that is expressed on several solid tumor types, including subsets of sarcomas and breast cancers.
ADCE‑D01 combines a uPARAP‑binding antibody with a topoisomerase I inhibitor payload connected via a linker, a class of cytotoxics commonly used in ADCs. The candidate is currently in phase 1/2 in patients with metastatic or unresectable soft‑tissue sarcoma in the U.S. and Europe. In late 2025, the FDA granted the candidate fast‑track designation for the sarcoma indication.
Alongside uPARAP, the company’s pipeline includes ADCE‑T02, an ADC targeting tissue factor (TF), a protein involved in blood coagulation that is also overexpressed across many solid tumor types. ADCE‑T02 is currently in phase 1.
On the financial side, the company completed an oversubscribed series B financing of approximately $135 million in 2024.
Adcentrx Therapeutics
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Headquarters: San Diego, U.S.
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Founded: 2021
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Lead candidate: ADRX‑0706
Adcentrx is building ADCs around the idea that the details of conjugation chemistry and linker stability matter as much as the antibody target, especially for targets that are already clinically validated. Its lead program ADRX‑0706 goes after Nectin‑4, a cell‑surface adhesion protein that’s become a proven ADC target in solid tumors, most notably via enfortumab vedotin in urothelial cancer.
Where Adcentrx is trying to differentiate is in the construct. The candidate pairs a Nectin‑4 antibody with a tubulin‑inhibitor payload, another widely used cytotoxic, delivered through a cleavable linker, with the construct designed to control payload release and systemic exposure.
ADRX‑0706 entered human testing in late 2024, and the company presented interim phase 1a data at ASCO in 2025, showing early safety findings and initial signs of activity in advanced solid tumors. In the same year, the FDA granted fast‑track designation to ADRX‑0706 for advanced cervical cancer. The latest funding the company reported was a $51 million extended series A round in late December 2025.
Adcytherix
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Headquarters: Marseille, France
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Founded: 2024
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Lead asset / platform: ADCX‑020
Adcytherix is a French biotech developing next‑generation ADCs with an emphasis on incorporating novel cytotoxic payloads into targeted constructs. The company was seeded in 2024 with financing led by Pontifax Venture Capital.
The most advanced program, ADCX‑020, is being prepared for first‑in‑human evaluation. Adcytherix has been targeting regulatory filings, including an IND application in the U.S. and clinical trial applications in Europe, the U.K., and Canada, with the aim of starting a phase 1 study in early 2026.
ADCX‑020 is designed around an ADC format using a topoisomerase I inhibitor payload and a drug‑linker architecture intended to broaden activity against tumor types with limited response to current ADCs. Specific target antigen details have not been widely disclosed, and the program is still preparing for clinical entry.
In October 2025, Adcytherix completed a €105 million ($124 million) series A financing, one of the largest ADC‑focused early rounds in Europe that year.
Araris Biotech
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Headquarters: Zurich area, Switzerland
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Founded: 2019
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Platform: AraLinQ
Araris Biotech’s focus is on how ADCs are assembled, specifically on controlling where and how cytotoxic payloads are attached to antibodies. Its AraLinQ platform is designed to conjugate payloads at a defined position on native IgG antibodies, without requiring antibody engineering.
The objective is to reduce variability in drug‑antibody ratios and improve the predictability of exposure. Araris has shown preclinical examples using common ADC targets such as CD79b and Nectin‑4 to illustrate how the platform can be applied across both hematological and solid‑tumor settings, although program‑level detail remains limited publicly.
Progress has been driven more by partner validation than by clinical milestones. In January 2025, the company signed a research collaboration and option‑to‑license agreement with Chugai Pharmaceutical, under which Araris applies its conjugation technology to antibodies supplied by Chugai, with downstream milestone and royalty potential if options are exercised. Two months later, Taiho Pharmaceutical agreed to acquire Araris for $400 million upfront, with additional milestone payments bringing the total potential value of the deal to $1.14 billion.
Duality Biologics
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Headquarters: Suzhou, China
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Founded: 2020
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Lead candidate: Pipeline of next‑generation ADCs
Duality Biologics (DualityBio) is a clinical‑stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing next‑generation ADCs for oncology and autoimmune diseases.
A major milestone has been its strategic partnership with BioNTech, announced in 2023, under which BioNTech received exclusive licenses to several Duality‑originated ADC assets for global development outside China, while Duality retained rights in Greater China. The collaboration included upfront and potential milestone payments exceeding $1.5 billion.
The most advanced ADC from this collaboration is BNT323/DB‑1303, a third‑generation ADC targeting HER2 that combines a monoclonal antibody with a topoisomerase I inhibitor payload using Duality’s proprietary platform. This candidate has progressed into a pivotal phase 3 trial in patients with hormone‑receptor‑positive, HER2‑low metastatic breast cancer, and interim results released in 2025 showed the study met its primary endpoint of improved progression‑free survival compared with standard therapy.
Beyond BioNTech, Duality has expanded collaborations with other biotech partners. It has a strategic platform license agreement with Adcendo, which exercised options to use Duality’s technology for additional ADC targets, while GSK holds an option on a preclinical ADC program originating from Duality’s pipeline.
MBrace Therapeutics
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Headquarters: San Diego, California, U.S.
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Founded: 2020
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Lead candidate: MBRC‑101
MBrace is developing ADCs around EphA5, a receptor tyrosine kinase that has not been a mainstream ADC target. The company’s bet is that EphA5 expression across multiple solid tumors can support a targeted delivery approach, while keeping an eye on normal‑tissue expression as the key safety question for any new surface target. A 2025 preclinical paper on MBRC‑101 described EphA5 expression across several tumor types and reported limited expression in normal tissues, making it worth testing clinically.
Its lead candidate, MBRC‑101, is in a first‑in‑human phase 1/1b study in advanced or metastatic solid tumors. MBrace also describes subsequent phase 2 plans that would narrow into tumor types identified through the earlier stages.
The company raised an $85 million series B round in November 2023 led by TPG, intended to support clinical development of MBRC‑101 and its broader ADC pipeline.
MediLink Therapeutics
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Headquarters: Suzhou, China
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Founded: 2020
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Lead candidate: YL201
MediLink’s platform is designed so that the cytotoxic payloads are activated in the tumor microenvironment, which the company says supports higher drug accumulation in tumors and contributes to tumor penetration regardless of a target’s internalization properties.
Its most advanced asset, YL201, is an ADC directed against B7‑H3 (CD276), a protein overexpressed on a variety of solid tumor cells and tumor‑associated immune cells but limited in normal tissues. YL201 is being evaluated in phase 3 in small‑cell lung cancer (SCLC) and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Beyond YL201, MediLink’s pipeline includes multiple other ADC candidates covering targets such as cMET (YL211), CDH17 (YL217), and HER3 (YL202), with several having entered early clinical evaluation for solid tumors.
MediLink has also pursued licensing and collaboration agreements that extend the reach of its technology. Most notably, in January 2024 it entered a collaboration and license agreement with Roche for the development of YL211, a cMET‑targeted ADC, and in early 2026 the partners agreed on an expanded licensing deal for YL201 that includes near‑term payments of up to $570 million plus additional development and commercial milestones payable if the program succeeds outside of China.
Tubulis
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Headquarters: Munich, Germany
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Founded: 2018
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Lead candidates: TUB‑040 and TUB‑030
Tubulis is a biotech focused on developing next‑generation ADCs aimed at solid tumors. Across its pipeline, Tubulis deploys two linked technologies: Tubutecan, which uses its P5 conjugation chemistry to attach topoisomerase I inhibitor payloads such as exatecan to antibodies, and Alco5, an approach for incorporating a broader range of payload types.
The most advanced clinical candidate is TUB‑040, an ADC directed against the NaPi2b antigen, which is expressed on certain ovarian cancer and lung adenocarcinoma cells. TUB‑040 is currently in phase 1/2a in patients with platinum‑resistant high‑grade serous ovarian cancer (PROC) and relapsed/refractory non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Interim clinical data presented in 2025 showed early signs of activity at multiple dose levels and a tolerability profile with mostly low‑grade adverse events.
Tubulis also has a second clinical candidate, TUB‑030, which targets the 5T4 antigen and has entered early clinical evaluation, as well as several earlier‑stage programs.
In 2025, the company completed a €344 million ($401 million) series C financing round, one of the largest rounds for a private ADC developer, led by Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners.
Tubulis’ approach has attracted partnerships; for example, a strategic license agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb gives BMS rights to develop selected ADCs based on Tubulis’ Tubutecan technology. The first candidate of this collaboration reached the clinic in 2025.
ADCs, a biotech pillar
ADCs have become a pillar of targeted cancer therapy, and 2025–early 2026 continued that trend with new regulatory milestones and broad industry engagement. In the U.S., for example, Datroway (developed by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo) was granted accelerated approval for advanced non‑small cell lung cancer after its initial breast‑cancer indication, expanding the clinical footprint of ADCs in solid tumors.
Meanwhile, ADCs continue to represent a rapidly growing market category, with industry research forecasting double‑digit annual growth through the decade and total market valuations rising above $36 billion by early 2034.
Part of this broader growth reflects the involvement of large pharmaceutical companies. In addition to approvals with joint development programs like Enhertu and Datroway, major firms such as Roche, AstraZeneca, and Bristol Myers Squibb continue to invest in ADC science through partnerships, licensing deals, and acquisitions.
At the same time, the clinical pipeline remains robust beyond the first wave of HER2‑ and hematologic agents, suggesting that the next few years could bring a new class of targeted conjugates.
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