[Antibody-drug conjugates: a new therapeutic class?]

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are therapeutic agents combining the specificity of a monoclonal antibody for a target antigen with the delivery of a highly potent cytotoxic drug. Their development has been hampered by numerous problems, which are now better identified and partially solved. This finally led to the recent approval of brentuximab vedotin by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as in Europe. Trastuzumab emtasin has also been very recently approved by the FDA. Over 20 other ADCs are being investigated, with two of them (inotuzumab ozogamicin and gemtuzumab ozogamicin) in late stage of clinical evaluation. In the near future, ADCs may provide a powerful and selective treatment option for cancer patient.