Daiichi Sankyo plans $133 mn investment to strengthen biopharma facilities

Daiichi Sankyo will build new and refurbish manufacturing lines at three of the company’s production facilities in Japan. These improvements will optimise and expand the production of fully synthesised ADCs and ensure a stable supply for future investigational and commercial use.

Antoine Yver, executive vice president and global head, oncology research and development, Daiichi Sankyo, added, “We are committed to the continued advancement and acceleration of our ADC franchise, and expanding our manufacturing capabilities will allow us to hone and drive our institutional ADC expertise as we progress development and investigation of these complex medicines. We believe that our researchers have systemically addressed several critical limitations of current ADC technology, so we want to ensure this expertise is carried over to the clinic.”

Antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) are a type of targeted cancer medicine that deliver cytotoxic chemotherapy (‘payload’) directly to cancer cells via a linker attached to a monoclonal antibody that binds to a specific target expressed on cancer cells. Daiichi Sankyo’s proprietary ADC technology, which has broad application across multiple types of cancer, is designed to deliver enhanced cancer cell destruction with less systemic exposure to the cytotoxic payload.  

The ADC franchise of Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise currently consists of six novel ADCs including DS-8201 and U3-1402 in phase 1 clinical development as well as DS-7300, DS-1062 and two other ADCs with undisclosed targets in pre-clinical development.