Debiopharm Forges AI-powered Alliance With NetTargets to Pioneer Dual-payload ADCs Against Drug-resistant Cancers

An Alliance to Combat Resistance: Debiopharm and NetTargets will collaborate to develop next-generation, dual-payload Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs) designed to overcome acquired resistance mechanisms in difficult-to-treat cancers. AI-Powered Precision: The collaboration combines NetTargets' proprietary AI discovery platform—to identify synergistic drug pairings—with Debiopharm’s MLINK Duo technology for coordinated delivery of two distinct warheads on a single ADC.

Debiopharm (www.debiopharm.com), a privately-owned, Swiss-based, biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing innovative therapies that respond to high unmet medical needs, today announced a strategic research collaboration with NetTargets (www.net-targets.com), a South Korean biotech company specializing in AI-enhanced systems biology for drug discovery, to rationally design and advance the discovery of novel, synergistic drug combinations for Debiopharm’s next-generation Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs). This alliance unites NetTargets' sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) platform with Debiopharm's proprietary MLINKtechnology to create a new paradigm in cancer treatment, aiming to deliver a decisive, dual-action blow against treatment-resistant tumors.

This collaboration achieves this multi-pronged strategy by uniting two cutting-edge technologies: NetTargets' AI-Powered Discovery Engine and Debiopharm's MLINK Duo Technology. NetTargets' proprietary AI platform integrates multi-omics data with deep neural network modeling to uncover synergistic mechanisms and accelerate drug discovery. It sifts through millions of potential compound combinations to identify synergistic pairings—"one-two punches"—that are significantly more potent together than the sum of their individual effects. These AI-identified payloads will then be integrated into Debiopharm’s innovative ADC technologies using MLINK Duo, a proprietary linker engineered specifically to carry two distinct payloads on a single antibody. This precision bio-engineering ensures the coordinated delivery and release of both warheads directly inside the cancer cell, maximizing their synergistic impact while minimizing systemic toxicity. This combination of AI-driven discovery and precision bio-engineering promises to produce a pipeline of dual-payload ADCs with a higher probability of clinical success against the most challenging cancers.

"To address the fundamental challenge of therapeutic resistance, we are moving beyond single-agent attacks," explained Frédéric Lévy, Chief Scientific Officer at Debiopharm. "Our collaboration with NetTargets is about creating smarter and more precise therapies. We are using their powerful AI to find synergistic drug combinations for our ADC platforms, which allows us to rationally design therapies that are more effective. By attacking cancer on multiple fronts simultaneously, we not only increase the immediate efficacy of the treatment but also strategically minimize the cancer's chances to adapt and develop resistance."

Debiopharm is advancing its ADC platform with a focus on proprietary bispecific ADCs and innovative payloads. By leveraging its proven drug development expertise, the company aims to accelerate next-generation ADC therapies to patients, addressing critical unmet medical needs.

“Our AI models are built to understand the complex biological networks that drive cancer,” commented Dr. Je-Hoon Song, CEO of NetTargets. “By simulating how different drug mechanisms interact, we can pinpoint unique vulnerabilities that would be impossible to find through traditional screening. Partnering with Debiopharm, a leader in ADC technology, allows us to translate these digital discoveries into tangible, life-saving therapies.”

MLINK Duo

MLINK Duo is a cleavable linker (part of the proprietary MultiLINK™ ADC Technology Suite – a modular, peptide-based, cathepsin B-cleavable linker platform) tailored for simultaneous attachment of two distinct payloads on a single antibody. MLINK Duo supports the production of ADCs with a high drug-to-antibody ratio (DAR) up to DAR8+8 and is compatible with various conjugation technologies. This unique and innovative technology ensures the coordinated delivery and release of both warheads directly inside the cancer cell, maximizing their synergistic impact while minimizing systemic toxicity, making it ideally suited for the AI-identified synergistic combinations.

Debiopharm’s ADC Expertise

We’re developing fit-for-purpose antibody-drug conjugates through a tailored “Trifecta” approach: strategic target selection, innovative proprietary MultiLINK™ linker technology, and smart payload choices. Our ADC portfolio includes first-in-class or best-in-class candidates: the clinical-stage Debio 1562M, a CD37-targeted ADC for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), Debio 0532, an HER3-targeted ADC for solid tumors, and Debio 2512, targeting HER3 & HER2 driven cancers, as well as other ADCs with undisclosed targets. We are actively partnering to access innovative targets, co-develop, or out-license our ADC programs and linker technologies. We have strong in-house capabilities and in-depth expertise spanning ADC conjugation and optimization, pharmacokinetics/ pharmacodynamics (PK/PD), toxicology, translational, pharmaceutical (CMC) and clinical development, and supply chain management. We continue to invest in and explore potential game-changing technologies, such as novel and dual payloads.

About NetTargets

NetTargets (www.net-targets.com) is a South Korean AI drug discovery company specializing in explainable AI (XAI)-driven systems biology for drug discovery. The company’s proprietary AI digital twin platform models complex biological systems to simulate drug responses and identify synergistic compound pairs. By integrating multi-omics and pathway-level data through explainable algorithms, NetTargets reveals mechanistic insights that go beyond conventional predictive approaches to enable truly novel therapeutic strategies.

Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/nettargets/

Debiopharm's commitment to patients

Debiopharm aims to develop innovative therapies that target high unmet medical needs primarily in oncology and bacterial infections. Bridging the gap between disruptive discovery products and real-world patient reach, we identify high-potential compounds and technologies for in-licensing, clinically demonstrate their safety and efficacy, and then hand stewardship to large pharmaceutical commercialization partners to maximize patient access globally.

For more information, please visit www.debiopharm.com
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