DualityBio’s ADC Platform Goes Global in Deal Worth Over $1 Billion

On August 28, 2026, DualityBio announced that it has entered into a global collaboration and license agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. The two parties will leverage DualityBio’s proprietary DUPAC™ (DualityBio Unique Payload Antibody Conjugate Platform) to develop next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

Under the terms of the agreement, DualityBio will receive a $45 million upfront payment and will be eligible to receive potential development, regulatory, and commercialization milestone payments totaling over $1 billion across all collaborative projects, as well as tiered royalties based on the annual net sales of approved products.

In terms of R&D division of labor, DualityBio will lead drug discovery and global early-stage clinical development for the collaborative project; Genentech will obtain the exclusive global license for the partnered ADC and, upon completion of Phase 1a clinical development, will independently oversee subsequent clinical development and global commercialization.

This marks another major cross-border business development collaboration achieved by DualityBio, representing yet another milestone for Chinese ADC technology platforms going global. Following previous product licensing agreements with global pharmaceutical companies such as BioNTech and GSK, DualityBio has once again gained recognition from top-tier pharmaceutical companies through its foundational technological innovations. This underscores the source innovation capabilities of Chinese innovative pharmaceutical enterprises in the ADC field, which are gradually rising to join the global first tier.

Currently, the global ADC industry is at a critical juncture of technological iteration.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) bearing topoisomerase inhibitor payloads have demonstrated clinical value across multiple solid tumor indications and are gradually advancing into earlier lines of therapy. However, with the widespread adoption of ADCs in clinical practice, challenges such as tumor resistance to classic payloads and limited responses to traditional ADCs in certain cancers have become increasingly prominent. These issues represent core bottlenecks restricting further improvements in ADC efficacy and are driving the research and development direction for next-generation ADC technologies.

DUPAC™ Platform is the next-generation payload technology platform, developed by DualityBio to address this industry pain point, is one of the company’s four proprietary ADC technology platforms. This platform is dedicated to developing differentiated payloads with novel mechanisms of action, with the core objective of overcoming resistance limitations associated with currently approved ADC payloads and expanding the scope of tumor biology addressable by ADCs.

In terms of technical design, the DUPAC™ platform encompasses multiple payloads, including DUP5, DUP9, and DUP10. Each payload is engineered based on a unique anti-tumor mechanism and paired with optimized adapter linker technology, balancing systemic circulation stability with tumor-specific release.

The payload design of the entire platform adheres to unified high standards: it ensures high potency and broad-spectrum antitumor activity, features a short systemic half-life for rapid clearance, and exerts a bystander effect against heterogeneous solid tumors, thereby covering tumor types that respond poorly to traditional topoisomerase inhibitor payloads.

Currently, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) based on the DUP5 and DUP9 payloads have generated robust preclinical data: they demonstrated clear antitumor activity in tumor models relatively insensitive to topoisomerase inhibitor payloads, while also exhibiting good tolerability in non-human primates. Related findings have been presented at several premier global academic forums, including the AACR 2025 Annual Meeting, the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference, and the AACR 2026 Annual Meeting, garnering widespread attention from the industry.

The DUPAC™ platform is not an isolated technological point, but one of the core components of DualityBio’s ADC technology matrix.

After years of dedicated development, DualityBio has established four differentiated proprietary ADC technology platforms, covering diverse technological pathways and application scenarios, thereby forming complementary technical barriers:

DITAC (Duality Immuno-Toxin Antibody Conjugate Platform) is the company’s most mature technology platform, designed around topoisomerase inhibitor payloads, and has supported seven clinical-stage assets, demonstrating favorable tolerability and a wider therapeutic window in over 3,200 patients globally;

DIBAC (Innovative Bispecific Antibody Conjugate Platform) is one of the few BsADC technology platforms globally, enhancing tumor selectivity through dual-target binding to achieve precise payload delivery and exert synergistic anti-tumor effects;

DIMAC (Immunomodulatory Antibody Conjugate Platform) focuses on the autoimmune disease sector, it utilizes intelligent targeted delivery of immunomodulatory payloads to reduce systemic exposure, offering a superior side effect profile compared to traditional immunotherapies and providing a novel therapeutic pathway for autoimmune diseases.

Four Core Technology Platforms Jointly Support DualityBio’s Robust Product Pipeline; the Company Currently Has 13 Self-Developed ADC Candidate Drugs Covering Two Major Therapeutic Areas—Oncology and Autoimmune Diseases—with Multiple Products Ranking Among the Global Clinical Leaders.

As a core innovative force in the global ADC sector, DualityBio has been continuously advancing its global commercial layout in recent years. It has entered into multiple blockbuster licensing collaborations with several top-tier global pharmaceutical companies, with the total cumulative transaction value exceeding USD 6 billion, making it a representative enterprise for the overseas expansion of Chinese-made innovative drug technologies.

Prior to this, DualityBio had already established three strategic collaborations with BioNTech, focusing on its three core products: DB-1303 (HER2 ADC), DB-1311 (B7-H3 ADC), and DB-1305 (TROP2 ADC). Under the collaboration model, DualityBio retains the rights for development and commercialization in Greater China, while BioNTech is responsible for clinical development and commercialization in overseas markets. Notably, DB-1303 has submitted a marketing authorization application in China, becoming a benchmark case for Chinese-made ADCs going global.

In addition, DualityBio has entered into a global collaboration with BeOne for B7-H4-targeted ADCs, secured an exclusive option agreement with GSK for CDH17-targeted ADCs, and established a global licensing partnership with Avenzo for EGFR/HER3 bispecific antibody ADCs, thereby advancing multiple pipelines in overseas clinical development simultaneously.

Unlike the aforementioned single-product licenses, this collaboration with Genentech represents a technology platform-level out-licensing by DualityBio, marking an upgrade in the company’s technology export from the individual product level to the underlying technology platform level.

On a global scale, technological iteration is reshaping the competitive landscape of the ADC sector. The first generation of ADCs, utilizing classic chemotherapy drugs as payloads, has gradually entered a mature stage, with bottlenecks in drug resistance and indication expansion becoming increasingly prominent. The core of next-generation ADC competition is extending towards novel mechanism-of-action payloads, bispecific delivery, and immuno-modulatory ADCs.

Future industry competition will no longer be a contest of individual molecules, but a comprehensive contest of technological platform systems, pipeline iteration capabilities, and global commercialization prowess. Companies possessing end-to-end technological platforms and the ability to continuously generate differentiated candidate molecules will gain a competitive edge in the new round of competition. DualityBio’s ongoing cross-border collaborations exemplify the upgrading of China’s innovative pharmaceutical industry.