Frost & Sullivan was invited to attend the 2026 Greater Bay Area ADC and Antibody Drug Development Forum to share the current investment and financing landscape and future trends in the global antibody and conjugate drug industry.

2026 Fourth Greater Bay Area Cell & Gene Therapy Development Forum – ADC and Antibody Drug Development Forum was held at Guangzhou Hilton Hotel from September 22 to 23, 2026. The conference covered the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and attracted biotech companies from more than 10 countries and regions around the world to participate in 14 thematic forums, sharing the technology + going global model. Zhang Chenyang, Senior Consultant Director of Frost & Sullivan (hereinafter referred to as "Frost & Sullivan"), was invited to attend and delivered a speech on the theme "Analysis of the Current Status and Future Trends of Global Antibody and Conjugated Drugs Investment and Financing".

Zhang Chenyang pointed out that bispecific antibodies, multivalent antibodies, and ADCs jointly define the growth curve of next-generation antibody drugs, with the Chinese market showing particularly impressive performance. The global antibody market continues to expand, expected to grow from $177.1 billion in 2020 to $462.1 billion in 2030. Among them, the growth rates of bispecific/multivalent antibodies and ADCs are significantly higher than those of monoclonal antibodies, becoming the core driving force. The growth rate of the Chinese antibody market is faster, approximately twice that of the global average during the same period, indicating that domestic innovation has shifted from "following" to "running side by side". Multivalent antibodies continue to evolve towards multi-target and multi-mechanism collaboration, while ADCs are constantly improving in payload, linkers, and conjugation technologies. These two technical routes coexist to drive antibody drugs into a new growth cycle, and gradually integrate to form new product forms such as multivalent ADCs, promoting antibody drugs to upgrade from "single targeting" to "mechanism collaboration + precise delivery".

Zhang Chenyang further analyzed that the export of antibody assets is accelerating, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's 18A capital window is now opportune. From 2020 to 2025, the number of China's antibody drug license-out transactions increased from 12 to 56, and the total amount increased from $1.6 billion to $65 billion. Global pharmaceutical companies' recognition of China's innovative drug assets continues to rise, opening a window for revaluation of 18A companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The 18A rules provide technology-driven biotech companies with a capitalization channel independent of profit paths, allowing the value of technology platforms to be priced in advance before clinical validation. From January to June 2026, 87 new listings occurred on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, a 97.7% increase compared to the same period last year. Among them, 11 were 18A companies, raising a total of HK$12.49 billion. Hong Kong's cross-border wealth management scale is ranked first globally, providing liquidity support for the new stock market. From the export of innovative drugs to the realization of capital market value, a complete closed loop has been formed: "indigenous R&D FIC/BIC molecular platform → global licensing upfront payment + milestone cash flow → capital support and financing valuation improvement → 18A listing and financing value realization on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange".

Zhang Chenyang noted that the growth momentum of conjugated drugs market is strong, and RDC and PDC will become important components driving market growth after ADC. The global XDC drug market is expected to grow from $6.5 billion in 2021 to $18.89 billion in 2035. The growth rate in the Chinese market is even more prominent, expected to increase from 400 million RMB in 2021 to 2270 million RMB in 2035. The compound growth rates at all stages are higher than the global level, and the Chinese XDC market is still in a rapid expansion phase. ADC remains the core component of the XDC market, but the market growth driver is shifting from being solely driven by ADC to multi-pathway collaborative development of ADC, RDC, PDC, and other conjugated drugs. RDC and PDC will become important sources of incremental growth in the future XDC market. The global PDC market is expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 160.1% from 2025 to 2030, and continue to grow at a high speed of 63.7% from 2030 to 2035. The Chinese PDC is expected to grow by 68.0% from 2030 to 2035, indicating that new targeted ligands and peptide delivery technologies are accelerating the diversification of the XDC market structure.

Zhang Chenyang further stated that in terms of ADC licensing transactions, the global number of transactions reached a record high in 2025. China's ADC assets have become a core force in overseas licensing, with frequent large-scale transactions and targets expanding from HER2 and TROP2 to CDH17, DLL3 and other differentiated targets. Early assets have also gained international recognition. Licensing and mergers & acquisitions in the RDC field continue to be active. Peptide ligands have become an important technical route, and MNCs continue to increase their RDC assets through mergers & acquisitions. The ADC R&D pipeline continues to grow, with China, the US, and Japan leading. Listed products mainly include IgG1 subtype and HER2 targets. The TOP1 inhibitor payload shows potential, and indications are expanding to solid tumors. Global sales exceeded $10 billion, with Enhertu topping the list and Padcev rising significantly. Clinical trials are mainly in phase II. Merck, Janssen, AstraZeneca, Hengrui, and Pfizer are among the leading research pipelines, with increasingly diverse target layouts. In the future, ADC will benefit from conjugated technology progress, non-endocrystalline ADCs broadening targets, frontline treatment expansion, and combination with tumor immunotherapy. Padcev combined with Pembrolizumab became the first PD-1+ADC approved therapy, verifying the potential of the combination regimen.

In the RDC field, currently, 12 new RDC diagnostic drugs have been approved globally, with PSMA and SSTR2 as the main targets and 68Ga as the main radionuclide. Four therapeutic RDC drugs have been approved, including two products of Novartis. Pluvicto® had sales of $1.994 billion in 2025, a 42% increase year-on-year. Lutathera® had sales of $816 million in 2025, a 12% increase year-on-year. There are 85 RDC drug pipelines globally in active clinical trials, with phase I accounting for 44.7%. 177Lu is the main radionuclide, and popular targets include PSMA, FAP-α, HER2, CA9, CD45, DLL3, etc. RDC development directions include new radionuclides, new targets, and new drug development. Alpha particles have broad application prospects due to their high ray energy, short range, strong radiobiology effects, and strong cytotoxic effects. New indication exploration continues, and the requirement for improving radionuclide purity involves establishing precise real-time detection methods. The integrated diagnosis and treatment closed loop is achieved through imaging equipment to monitor radionuclides. Overall, ADC and RDC conjugated drugs are continuously evolving along the paths of technological iteration, target expansion, and indication advancement, jointly driving the antibody drug industry into a new growth cycle.