LigaChem Biosciences is shifting the center of gravity of its business development strategy from early licensing-out to late-stage, clinical-based "big deals." The strategy is to secure in-house antibody design capabilities to increase licensing-out profitability and to maximize corporate value through "package deals" that combine the platform and pipeline, as well as through direct development in late-stage clinical trials.
To back this up, the company will accelerate advancement of its next-generation Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) platform with funding of about 1 trillion won. It also laid out a mid- to long-term roadmap to expand its applications beyond oncology to non-cancer areas such as neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases.
On the 8th at "Global R&D (research and development) Day 2026," Chair Kim Yong-ju of LigaChem Biosciences said, "With Chinese corporations rapidly catching up with existing technologies, it is difficult to maintain competitiveness by making only modest platform improvements," adding, "We need a 'super-gap' technology that can change the game in the market."
◇ Beyond ADC evolution to non-oncology… development approach will also change
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and head of the new drug research institute Han Jin-hwan unveiled a next-generation platform strategy to address ADC limitations such as drug resistance, toxicity and indication expansion.
First, the company will overcome resistance by developing a topoisomerase 1 inhibitor that does not use the CPT (camptothecin) class employed by existing ADCs such as "Enhertu." It will also incorporate new mechanisms of action (MoA) such as targeted protein degraders (TPD) and immune stimulators, and plans to secure dual-payload technology that loads two drugs simultaneously (the cytotoxic agents that ADCs deliver to cancer cells).
In immuno-oncology, the strategy is to develop a STING agonist (a substance that activates innate immunity to induce an anticancer immune response) that is activated only in tumors to reduce systemic toxicity, and to leverage immunogenic cell death (ICD) to enhance combination effects with immuno-oncology drugs.
The ADC platform itself will also be advanced. Jeong Cheol-ung, head of the ADC research institute, said the "Low DAR" platform, which lowers the drug-to-antibody ratio (DAR), can increase stability in the blood while maintaining drug delivery efficiency within tumors. Based on this, the company will develop multi-target ADCs and, in the long term, expand the platform into non-oncology areas such as neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases.
The new drug development approach will also change. From the candidate discovery stage, the translational research team will participate to co-design biomarkers, and the company will focus research and development capabilities on candidates with higher chances of success through AI-based preclinical data analysis.
The company will also expand "open innovation" by actively adopting external technologies. Han, the CTO, said, "There is no need to develop every technology in-house," adding, "The key is to quickly integrate external technologies into our own platform to get ahead of competitors."
Based on this strategy, the company aims to secure 4 to 5 candidates each year at the Investigational New Drug (IND) approval stage and expand its clinical-stage pipeline to around 20 within five years. Through this, it plans to continuously generate best-in-class and first-in-class new drugs.
About five candidates are also expected to enter the IND stage this year. There were six clinical-stage programs last year, and four have already newly entered or are about to enter this year.
◇ Internalizing antibodies and moving to late-stage trials to target "big deals"
The business development strategy is also changing. Whereas the company previously introduced external antibodies or co-developed them and split licensing-out revenue, it has now built an antibody internalization system based on recently secured antibody design capabilities. The strategy is to use in-house–designed antibodies to increase future licensing-out profitability.
Some pipelines will be out-licensed early to secure cash flow, while highly competitive assets will be developed in-house through late-stage clinical trials and then bundled with the platform to pursue large-scale licensing deals.
Chief Business Development Officer (CBDO) Chae Je-uk said, "In the past, early licensing-out was unavoidable due to funding burdens, but now we can choose between direct development and licensing," adding, "We will expand both early licensing-out and late-stage clinical assets to increase both the scale and added value of licensing."
Partners' clinical results will also become a new source of revenue. Chae, the CBDO, said, "If a sub-license occurs, we receive a portion of the upfront payment and milestones," explaining, "As partners make clinical progress, LigaChem Biosciences will see that progress translate into additional revenue, and this business model will go mainstream."
Results are expected to become visible starting in the second half. Ono Pharmaceutical of Japan has advanced L1CAM-targeted ADC "LCB97" into a phase 1 trial, and Sotio of the Czech Republic is also set to start clinical trials for "SOT106" in the second half.
At year-end, phase 1b data will be released for UK-based Iksuda Therapeutics' HER2-targeted ADC "IKS014" and China-based CStone Pharmaceuticals' ROR1-targeted ADC "CS5001."
Both companies are pursuing sub-licensing deals with global big pharma, and if positive results emerge, LigaChem Biosciences is also likely to secure upfront and milestone revenue under the revenue-sharing clauses included in the contracts.