Samsung Bioepis Signs ADC New Drug Development Partnership with Chinese Company

by Jo Inkyung

Published 21 Oct.2025 08:28(KST)

Joint Development of Two Next-Generation Antibody-Drug Conjugates with Phrontline

Samsung Bioepis announced on October 21 that it has signed a joint research partnership agreement with Chinese biotech company Phrontline Biopharma for the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidate substances.

Kim Kyunga, CEO of Samsung Bioepis (left), and Zhao Yuan Chen, CEO of Frontline, signed a partnership agreement on the 20th and are taking a commemorative photo. Samsung Bioepis

Phrontline is a biotech company developing bispecific and dual-payload technology, which is considered a next-generation ADC technology with strong potential in the field of anticancer drugs.

Under this agreement, Samsung Bioepis has secured joint development rights for two pipeline candidates owned by Phrontline. In addition, Samsung Bioepis has obtained an exclusive license to apply one payload (the anticancer drug component of ADCs) to its other development products.

The pipeline candidate confirmed for joint development, 'TJ108,' is a therapy based on a topoisomerase-1 inhibitor and a tubulin inhibitor. It targets both EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) and HER3 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 3), which are overexpressed in various cancers. Additional pipeline candidates for further development will be determined through discussions between the two companies.

Kim Kyunga, CEO of Samsung Bioepis, stated, "We look forward to collaborating with Phrontline, which possesses differentiated ADC technology targeting various indications. We will continue to seek new business opportunities to address unmet patient needs going forward."

Zhao Yuan Chen, CEO of Phrontline, said, "This partnership will accelerate Phrontline's vision of establishing bispecific and dual-payload ADCs as next-generation anticancer therapies. Together with Samsung Bioepis, starting with TJ108, we aim to overcome the limitations of single-payload and single-target ADCs."

Samsung Bioepis plans to pay Phrontline an upfront payment and milestone payments in the future; however, other specific details and the scale of the agreement have not been disclosed, as they are subject to mutual agreement between the two companies.