DualityBio has entered a global collaboration and licensing agreement with Genentech to develop next-generation antibody-drug conjugates using DualityBio’s proprietary DUPAC payload platform.
The deal gives Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, an exclusive worldwide license to ADC programs directed at Genentech-selected oncology targets. DualityBio will receive a $45 million upfront payment and is eligible for more than $1 billion in aggregate development, regulatory and commercial milestones across the programs, plus tiered royalties on annual net sales of approved products.
DualityBio will lead discovery and early global clinical development of the collaboration ADCs. Genentech will assume sole responsibility for further clinical development and commercialization after Phase 1a.
The partnership centers on DualityBio Unique Payload Antibody Conjugate, or DUPAC, one of the company’s four ADC technology platforms. The platform contains several payloads with distinct antitumor mechanisms that are paired with optimized linker technologies intended to support systemic stability and tumor-specific payload release.
DualityBio said the platform’s payloads are designed to offer high potency, activity across tumor types, rapid systemic clearance and a bystander effect suited to heterogeneous solid tumors.
The collaboration is intended to address a growing unmet need among patients whose tumors are resistant or refractory to ADCs using topoisomerase inhibitor payloads. As topoisomerase inhibitor-based ADCs move into earlier treatment lines for major solid tumors, more patients may require alternative therapeutic approaches after disease progression, the company said.
DUPAC is designed to retain anti-timor activity in tumors that are less responsive to topoisomerase inhibitor payloads. The platform includes payloads known as DUP5, DUP9 and DUP10, each with a different anti-improvement mechanism.
DualityBio said preclinical data for ADCs based on DUP5 and DUP9 have been presented at medical conferences, including AACR 2025, the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference 2025 and AACR 2026. The company cited activity in tumor models relatively insensitive to topoisomerase inhibitor payloads and non-human primate tolerability findings.
John Zhu, DualityBio’s founder and chief executive, said the partnership combines the company’s payload innovation and early-stage clinical-development experience with Genentech’s oncology expertise and global development reach.
Boris Zaïtra, head of Roche Corporate Business Development, said the collaboration reflects the company’s effort to identify targeted cancer treatments for areas of unmet need.
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