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Gilead’s acquisition of Munich-based Tubulis earlier this year has put German antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) innovation into the global spotlight. With a total deal value of up to USD 5 billion, it was a landmark moment not just for German biotech, but for European biotech innovation at large. After a post-pandemic slow-down, multi-billion-dollar deals are at record levels in 2026. With major patent cliffs looming over the course of the next decade and pipelines running short on innovative modalities, big pharma is once again investing heavily in biotech.
ADCs are an especially attractive modality in oncology because they address a key limi- tation of traditional chemotherapy, which lies in its lack of specificity in distinguishing cancer cells from healthy tissue. ADCs aim to overcome this problem by conjugating a cytotoxic agent (the ‘payload’) via a chemical linker to an antibody that specifically targets cancer cells, thereby delivering the drug precisely to the tumour. The success of this approach is reflected in the 15 FDA-approved ADCs now used to treat various cancers, with more than 20 additional candidates in phase III clinical trials (1). ADCs have become one of the most attractive modalities for pharmaceutical companies, with the vast majority of major pharma players signing at least one ADC-related acquisition or licensing deal since 2023 (2). Dr Sofia Ioannidou, Partner in Andera Partners’ Andera Life Sciences team, points to the rapid growth in the sector: ‘It is currently one of the fastest-growing segments of oncology with an estimated USD 15 billion in revenue in 2025, and that is expected to at least double by 2030, driven by a number of blockbuster products.’
From investment to acquisition
Ioannidou, who is also a former Tubulis board member, saw early investment potential in the ADC company: ‘What attracted us to lead the EUR 60 million series B round in 2022 was Tubulis’ toolkit of technologies two conjugation technologies and one linker technology, all very novel that could form the basis of a very promising pipeline.’ Andera Partners continued to back Tubulis through the upsized EUR 128 million Series B2 round in 2024 and the EUR 344 million series C in 2025. The series C, which brought together an increasingly inter- national investor syndicate, gave Tubulis the resources to pursue different paths, Ioannidou notes: ‘There were a few options on the table. Staying a standalone company was clearly something that could be envisioned. That was one of the options discussed extensively on the board and among shareholders, alongside the Gilead option.’ Gilead had already established a relationship with Tubulis through previous deals, as Ioannidou points out: ‘Gilead had worked with the research team extensively, they knew and respected them – and that played a big role.’
Munich at the centre stage
While the science and the team were key to Tubulis’ success in attracting capital, location also mattered. ‘Coming out of two top universities, one in Munich and one in Berlin, gave validation, and developing as a company in Munich was also important, because Munich is one of the European biotech hubs, with its universities, research institutes, the biotech centre at the IZB (Innovations- und Gründerzentrum; editor’s note), and local capital,’ Ioannidou states. The Gilead-Tubulis deal will further strengthen Munich’s position in the biotech ecosystem. Gilead’s decision to retain Tubulis as a dedicated, Munich-based ADC research hub ensures that the expertise remains in the city. This was also a consideration for investors during the negotiations, as Ioannidou explains: ‘It was important for the continuity of Tubulis as an entity and for its people, and it also meant the chances of the company’s programmes developing all the way to market increased. It also puts Munich on the map for other entrepreneurs and investors.’ This assessment is shared across the sector. Jean Engela, CEO of Berlin-based biotech Tacalyx, notes: ‘It is extremely encouraging that Tubulis will continue to be the location and the nucleus of ADC activities within that ecosystem. I think it was a fantastic deal to reinforce self-belief within the Eu- ropean ecosystem to show that we can also produce unicorns. Europeans need to be more convinced of themselves as Europe has been a powerhouse in ADC research for decades already. The density and the richness of ADC expertise in Europe is exceptional.’
Emerging frontiers in ADC development
While ADCs have already proven successful in the clinic, expand- ing their target repertoire could enable more selective approaches tailored to distinct cancer indications. Berlin-based Tacalyx, a spin- out of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPICI), is developing novel anticancer therapeutics targeting tumour-asso- ciated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs). ‘When Tacalyx was founded, our aim was to determine whether TACAs are specific to cancer and whether they could be targeted with antibody-based modali- ties such as ADCs, as well as other approaches, including T-cell en- gagers and multi-specifics. This has now evolved into a mission to reframe cancer, enabling us to deliver targeted therapies for all can- cer patients,’ Engela explains. Tacalyx’ mission builds on decades of world-leading academic research in glycochemistry at the MPICI. Backed by EUR 25 million from international and European inves- tors, Tacalyx aims to take its first candidate into the clinic in 2027. Engela sees TACAs as particularly promising because they offer a distinct approach to tumour-specific targeting. ‘TACAs are dif- ferentiated in terms of biology, especially compared to traditional protein targets or tumour-associated antigens.’ The UK-based on- cology biotech Promatix is taking a different approach to the same challenge, aiming to improve ADC selectivity. Promatix’ CEO and co-founder Dr Michael Hunter explains: ‘We are combining two antigens on the same cancer cell using hybrid avidity – a biological “AND-gate” approach, where both antigens must be present on the same cancer cell.’ This approach provides high tumour selectiv- ity and addresses one of the key limitations ADC development is facing, says Hunter. ‘Not all cancers are treated with ADCs today because ADCs are limited by the number of good targets available. Improving linker payloads and antibody engineering is clearly im- portant, but the payload still has to be delivered, so it comes down to the quality of the target selection.’ While most companies focus on the same limited pool of monospecific targets, Promatix believes its approach can substantially expand the addressable target space. ‘There are about 24 good monospecific targets with strong differen- tial expression in our TXPro database. By applying our “AND-gate” strategy, we can expand that to over 2,000 targets across a range of solid tumours. That massively expands both the target space and the IP space available to us,’ says Hunter. The expansion of the target space, however, also creates challenges. AI and advanced computational analytics are central to how Promatix searches and prioritises potential targets. ‘Our TXPro database maps membrane protein expression across tumour samples and matched normal tissue. TXPro generates the hypothesis, and AI helps us to oper- ate at scale. These computational methods let us harmonise high volumes of data, quantify differential target expression, search the target space systematically, and rank novel candidates against ex- plicit selectivity criteria,’ says Hunter. Promatix was seed-backed by ALSA Ventures and recently announced a non-dilutive Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Grant to advance its preclinical lead asset toward development candidate nomination. Further development through IND-enabling studies to clinical proof of concept will take further capital requiring a series A fundraise, says Hunter.
Attracting investment locally versus internationally
As ADC pipelines advance, access to capital will become increasingly important for the new wave of ADC innovators. According to Ioannidou, Europe has a strong foundation for early-stage biotech but lacks sufficient scale-up capital. ‘We need to bring in more international capital, including US capital, as companies scale, since IPOs are done on NASDAQ these days. It would be great if we had more scale-up capital available in Europe,’ she says. Engela sees a similar challenge at Tacalyx: ‘There are interesting incentives in the European ecosystem to keep activities within the EU, and that encourages us to continue our operations here. But we are an early-stage biotech company, and the further we go, the larger the amounts of capital at risk.’ For Engela, this ultimately raises a broader question about how Europe values biotech innovation. ‘The question is, where does the money come from that fuels innovation? We need to reassess the value of healthcare innovation in Europe, because it creates sustainable jobs. We are trying to better align policy with this mission, but the actions differ from the spirit of the policy that is where we need to work.’
A promising future for ADCs
The coming patent expiries of established ADC technologies could further lower barriers to development, giving new entrants access to proven payload systems and shifting the focus towards differentiation through new ADC target biology. ‘At Promatix, we simply have more targets than we can exploit ourselves, so we’d like to enter partnerships with other companies, including on our own assets,’ says Hunter, highlighting the strength of Promatix’ pipeline. With novel targets unlocking more precisely tuned ADCs, strong investor backing, and lessons from recent success stories, the modality is poised for further growth. As far as Engela is concerned, the race is on: ‘There is very much a drive now around who is going to be the next Tubulis that is the key question on everyone’s lips.’ He also sees the recent deal as an opportunity to reinvest in Europe’s growing ADC ecosystem. ‘How will the proceeds from this deal trickle back into the ecosystem? At least in part, they will certainly bolster and strengthen the European ecosystem.’ The Gilead-Tubulis deal also provides important learnings for investors and founders alike, emphasises Ioannidou: ‘You need to identify the most promising science and pair it with the best team to develop it. It is really science and execution. With Tubulis, we were lucky to have both.’ For Andera Partners, however, this is certainly not the end of the ADC journey. ‘We are very interested in ADCs; we think it is a modality that is still very much growing, and there is more to come. We will continue to invest in the space,’ says Ioannidou.
This article was written by Dr Philipp Schenk.
(1) Wang, R. et al. (2025): ‘Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs): current and future biopharmaceuticals,’ Journal of Hematology & Oncology, 18, 51. DOI: 10.1186/s13045-025-01704-3.
(2) Yang, G. et al. (2025): ‘Charting the path to patients,’ McKinsey & Company, 9 January 2025.
