The move was expected; it follows Sterling’s strategic investment in the ADC Bio business back in December 2020, with the CDMO then indicating then the possibility it would take on full ownership of the UK firm in early 2021, subject to due diligence.
ADC Bio have been at the forefront of antibody-drug bioconjugation and process development in recent years. Its Deeside, Wales, UK facility will rebrand to become part of the Sterling Pharma Solutions international network.
A multi-million sterling pound investment will support the further growth of ADC Bio’s capabilities, which will include growing and developing its existing bioconjugation technical services team and expanding the analytical services cohort, particularly in the cGMP area.
Spotlight on ADCs
ADC drugs combine the cell killing activity of a cytotoxic drug payload with the targeting ability of an antibody. They have been generating a lot of buzz in recent years, given the scale of some of the ADC deals of late such as the alliance between AstraZeneca and Daiichi and, in what was the largest deal in its 33-year history, in September 2020, Gilead Sciences agreeing to pay US$21bn to acquire Immunomedics and its recently-approved ADC, Trodelvy.
Pyxis Oncology is also moving into this area. Through a licensing deal with Pfizer, announced last month, the biotech gets two ADCs from the pharma giant, along with a toolkit to develop additional ADC candidates. That followed a deal to license another ADC from South Korea’s LegoChem Biosciences at the end of 2020. The financial details of the agreement with Pfizer were not revealed but Pyxis paid out US$9.5m upfront for the LegoChem ADC, with a further US$280m in potential milestones.