Lavinia Woodward: ADCs Cling to Dominance
Lavinia Woodward, Senior Product Development Producer at Beacon, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“ADCs Cling to Dominance
As of July 2025, ADCs account for 51% of drug conjugate programs, down from 60% at the same time last year. Traditional ADCs with cytotoxic payloads linked to monoclonal antibodies, now make up just under 80% of ADCs, down from 85% a year ago. The drug conjugate landscape is evolving rapidly, bringing more effective treatment options for patients with cancer.
Radionucleotide drug conjugates (RDC) and bispecific ADCs (BsADC) are the two therapeutic classes taking the biggest bites out of traditional ADC’s slice of the pie (chart).
RDC:
- 476 programs in active development.
- Radioactive isotope linked to targeting moiety (e.g. antibody, peptide).
- ‘Theranostic’ capability, combining cancer imaging and treatment.
BsADC:
- 213 programs in active development.
- Use engineered antibodies that simultaneously bind two different targets (or two epitopes on the same target), reducing off-target toxicity.
- Help to overcome tumour heterogeneity and resistance represent
- 47% of all novel ADC formats.
While RDCs have proven clinical efficacy, with 5 regulatory approvals, BsADCs have yet to reach the market. For the 32 BsADCs currently in active clinical development, only time will tell. 4 BsADCs are in phase 3 – keep an eye on Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Izalontamab brengitecan, which later this year will be the first BsADC to complete phase 3.
The message from the data is clear: drug conjugation technology has become the platform, not just ADCs, with companies that master conjugation chemistry able to pivot across multiple modalities from antibodies to peptides to dual payloads. As traditional ADC market share erodes, the winners will be those who recognise this is not market weakness but market evolution – and position their platforms, pipelines, and partnerships accordingly.
Which do you see as the bigger opportunity over the next 3 years: building best-in-class RDCs to compete with Pluvicto’s success, or developing bispecific ADCs that can overcome drug resistance in patients who fail traditional ADC therapy?
Data sourced from Beacon (July 2025). Correction: radionucleotide = radionuclide.”
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