Since the beginning of 2023, it seems that Chinese-originated antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have suddenly sprinted from stealth mode into the spotlight on the global biopharma collaboration stage.
Chinese ADC Developers Forge Domestic Alliances To Push R&D
To date, nine major pairs of antibody and payload-linker platform makers based in China are making a concerted approach for ADC research and development, research by Scrip reveals.

More from China
After a more than three-year hiatus, China's Hengrui has signalled its return to multiregional Phase III trials as it looks to globalize its innovative pipeline. Meanwhile, a number of other Chinese players have announced plans to kick off Phase III trials this year and beyond.
RemeGen is planning to complete enrolment in the global Phase III RemeMG study with telitacicept in generalized myasthenia gravis by the end of 2025 or early 2026. The Chinese firm has already sidelined two other global Phase III trials with the molecule to prioritize the indication.
UK pharma will invest $2.5bn in Beijing R&D hub, build a vaccine manufacturing site with BioKangtai, and partner in chronic disease with Syneron and in oncology/immunology with Harbour BioMed.
While diverging from partner Merck & Co. in its study dosage of sacituzumab tirumotecan, Kelun has garnered the world’s first approval, in China, for a TROP2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate, for the treatment of lung cancer.
More from Focus On Asia
RemeGen is planning to complete enrolment in the global Phase III RemeMG study with telitacicept in generalized myasthenia gravis by the end of 2025 or early 2026. The Chinese firm has already sidelined two other global Phase III trials with the molecule to prioritize the indication.
Kyoto-based venture moves HQ to California to expand R&D and business outreach for its regulatory T-cell technology, as it raises around $46m in public and private funding.
Heads of Novartis Biomedical, World Economic Forum and Indian majors like Sun Pharma’s SPARC, among others, discuss generative AI in drug discovery along with pointers for India to leapfrog the R&D process