next generation antibody-drug conjugates

Seattle Genetics' antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology empowers monoclonal antibodies to fight cancer. With more than a decade of experience in ADC innovation, we have developed proprietary technology employing synthetic cell-killing agents called auristatins, including monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) and monomethyl auristatin F (MMAF), and stable linkers that attach the auristatin to the antibody. Our linker systems are designed to be stable in the bloodstream and release the potent cytotoxic agent once inside targeted cancer cells. This approach is intended to spare non-targeted cells and thus reduce many of the toxic effects of traditional chemotherapy while enhancing the antitumor activity.

primary mechanism of action of ADCs: Targeted Delivery of a Potent Cytotoxic Agent

The key components of our antibody-drug conjugate technology are the stable linkers and the synthetic cytotoxic agents. Our linkers have been shown in preclinical models to be up to 10 times more stable in blood than conventional means of attaching drugs to antibodies. Our auristatins, a class of microtubule-disrupting agents, are 100- to 1,000-fold more potent than traditional chemotherapy drugs in preclinical models. When attached to the antibody, they are designed to result in targeted cell-killing. Because both the linker and cell-killing agents are synthetic, our ADC technology is readily scalable. This represents an improvement over natural product drug systems that are typically more challenging and expensive to produce.

ADC Pipeline and Collaborations
Our pipeline of monoclonal antibody-based product candidates is based primarily on our proprietary ADC technology.
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In addition, we have licensed our ADC technology to a number of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
View our ADC collaborator pipeline >