Swiss-based Debiopharm has formed a research partnership with South Korea-based AI drug discovery company NetTargets for the identification and development of synergistic drug pairings for the former’s antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
The collaboration leverages NetTargets’ AI platform and Debiopharm’s MLINK technology to create cancer treatments designed to combat tumours that have proven resistant to existing therapies.
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By GlobalDataNetTargets CEO Dr Je-Hoon Song stated: “Our AI models are built to understand the complex biological networks that drive cancer.
“By simulating how different drug mechanisms interact, we can pinpoint unique vulnerabilities that would be impossible to find through traditional screening.”
NetTargets employs an AI system that combines multi-omics data [a biological analysis approach that combines data from multiple “omics” fields, such as genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics, to gain understanding of a biological system] with neural network modelling to expedite the discovery of drugs.
This enables the rapid screening of multiple possible combinations of compounds to discover the pairings.
The payloads identified by AI will be incorporated into the ADC technologies of Debiopharm, leveraging the MLINK Duo linker, which is designed to attach two different payloads to one antibody.
This allows both therapeutic agents to be delivered directly inside malignant cells, with the aim of increasing treatment synergy while reducing systemic toxicity.
MLINK Duo enables the creation of ADCs with a high drug-to-antibody ratio (DAR), reaching up to DAR8+8, that can be used with a range of conjugation solutions.
Debiopharm continues to develop its ADC platform, placing emphasis on bispecific ADCs as well as payloads.
The company is utilising its experience in drug development to expedite new cancer therapies for patients with limited treatment options.
Debiopharm chief scientific officer Frédéric Lévy stated: “Our collaboration with NetTargets is about creating smarter and more precise therapies. We are using their powerful AI to find synergistic drug combinations for our ADC platforms, which allows us to rationally design therapies that are more effective.”
In June 2025, Debiopharm entered into a co-research agreement with Alkyon Therapeutics, aimed at exploring the development of targeted radioligand therapies.
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