Debiopharm, Oncodesign Agree to Use Non-Invasive Technology for Preclinical Research

The Switzerland-based biopharmaceutical company Debiopharm Research & Manufacturing has announced a license agreement with Oncodesign Services, of Dijon, France, for the use of a technology known as AbYlink for preclinical services (1). In a press release on April 24, 2025, Debiopharm explained that AbYlink is a rapid, regio-selective bioconjugation technology designed for use in therapeutic and non-invasive diagnostic applications.

Under the terms of the agreement, Oncodesign will use the technology to prepare antibody chelator conjugates for use in preclinical studies, hoping to gain insights about the predictive effectiveness of novel treatments for molecular radiotherapy, and in particular, radioimmunotherapy for cancer treatments (1).

Debiopharm further describes AbYlink as a one-step method that results in stable conjugation at defined and invariable sites on the Fc domain of an antibody, with no impact on antigen-binding regions, enabling a seamless, reproducible conjugation of payloads to antibodies or antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) (1).

“We have demonstrated the effectiveness of this powerful technology to rapidly and covalently conjugate any off-the-shelf antibody in a single step with an imaging agent,” Frédéric Lévy, chief scientific officer at Debiopharm, said in the press release (1). “Our strategic collaboration with Oncodesign Services allows broader access to and usage of non-invasive imaging applications and provides an innovative solution to biotech and pharma partners to integrate imagery in the development of new antibody- and ADC-based therapeutics.”

“We are pleased to integrate this cutting-edge technology into our portfolio for our clients,” said Aidan Synnott, CEO of Oncodesign Services, in the release (1). “The AbYlink technology gives the advantage of generating reproducible batches of bioconjugated antibodies and ADCs that secure specificity and efficacy of targeted radiotherapy.”

In announcing their agreement, Debiopharm and Oncodesign said a joint poster is scheduled to be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2025, being held April 25–30, 2025 in Chicago, that will illustrate a demonstration of the use of the non-invasive AbYlink technology in radioimmunotherapy, targeting animal models with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2+) tumors (1).

In other radiopharmaceuticals news, Sydney, Australia-based AdvanCell announced in February 2025 that it had successfully completed an oversubscribed, $112 million round of Series C financing (2). The mission of AdvanCell was originally built around targeted alpha-emitting radionuclides for cancer therapy, and, to that end, the company currently operates a 40,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. AdvanCell plans to expand manufacturing capacity even further and accelerate clinical development of its radionuclide therapy pipeline with the new funding.

As for ADCs, Christian Morello, vice-president and head of the Bioconjugates Business Unit at Lonza, highlighted some challenges in the January/February 2025 issue of Pharmaceutical Technology® (3).

“The technology is now at the level of maturity that enable a lot of different things,” Morello said, referencing Lonza’s acquisition of Synaffix, which presents a type of linker technology in which the developer can define how many payloads it wants to have per monoclonal antibody (3). “That is another possibility that will enable [the developer] to fine tune the benefits/risk ratio for the patient,” Morello added. “We can see [that] today for some cytotoxic compounds for oncology, for sure, but we also have radiolabeled compounds to facilitate diagnosis. [This is] also oncology treatment, but with a different approach.”

References

1. Debiopharm Research & Manufacturing. Debiopharm and Oncodesign Services Launch Strategic Collaboration to Propel Radiopharmaceuticals in Preclinical Research. Press Release. April 24, 2025.
2. AdvanCell. AdvanCell Successfully Completes an Oversubscribed US$112M Series C Financing. Press Release. Feb. 3, 2025.
3. Mirasol, F. Advancing ADCs to the Next Level. Pharmaceutical Technology 2025, 49 (1) 29–30.