Genentech Signs Deal Worth $1.4 Billion to Target ADC-Resistant Cancers

Roche subsidiary Genentech will invest more than $1 billion (approximately 1.4 trillion won) to secure technology targeting patients whose disease has progressed after antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) treatment.

According to Fierce Biotech, a U.S. biotechnology and pharmaceutical news outlet, on the 28th local time, Genentech secured rights related to ADCs from Chinese biotechnology company DualityBio in exchange for an upfront payment of $45 million (approximately 63 billion won). The total deal value exceeds $1 billion, including milestones.

Under the agreement, Genentech will gain access to DualityBio’s Dupac platform. Dupac payloads are designed to retain efficacy against tumors that have developed resistance to existing topoisomerase-based ADCs.

Approved ADCs such as AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s Enhertu and Gilead’s Trodelvy deliver cytotoxic topoisomerase inhibitors. As these treatments expand into the first-line setting, the unmet need among patients whose disease has progressed after treatment is growing.

DualityBio will create and develop ADCs that deliver Dupac payloads to targets selected by Genentech and advance them into clinical development. Genentech will assume sole responsibility for development after phase 1a.

DualityBio has presented a series of abstracts on Dupac payloads over the past 16 months. Last year, it released two abstracts on the mRNA translation inhibitor DUP5, suggesting the potential to improve efficacy over GSK’s BCMA-targeted ADC Blenrep.

The company has also released data on ecteinascidin derivatives. The data showed the potential to improve TA-MUC1-targeted ADCs and that the DUP9 payload killed EGFR- and DLL3-expressing cells. No preclinical data have yet been released for DUP10, the third Dupac payload.

DualityBio has attracted the attention of Western pharmaceutical companies, signing ADC agreements with BioNTech, GSK and BeiGene, now Biwin Medicine, in 2023 and 2024. Last year, Avenzo Therapeutics entered into an agreement for a HER3xEGFR ADC based on the company’s bispecific platform.