AACR spotlights dual-payload ADCs as the modality nears the clinic

Lilly’s announcement this week that it will acquire CrossBridge and its lead dual-payload ADC underscores growing interest in a strategy designed to overcome payload resistance and solid tumor heterogeneity. The trend is also evident in abstracts released ahead of this year’s AACR meeting.

On Tuesday, Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) announced that it would acquire Houston-based CrossBridge Bio Inc., which was founded in 2023 to develop next-generation antibody-drug conjugates, for up to $300 million. The biotech’s lead preclinical therapy, CBB-120, is a TROP2-targeted dual payload ADC designed to release both a topoisomerase inhibitor and an ATR inhibitor...