Recent advances in the construction of antibody-drug conjugates

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) comprise antibodies covalently attached to highly potent drugs using a variety of conjugation technologies. As therapeutics, they combine the exquisite specificity of antibodies, enabling discrimination between healthy and diseased tissue, with the cell-killing ability of cytotoxic drugs. This powerful and exciting class of targeted therapy has shown considerable promise in the treatment of various cancers with two US Food and Drug Administration approved ADCs currently on the market (Adcetris and Kadcyla) and approximately 40 currently undergoing clinical evaluation. However, most of these ADCs exist as heterogeneous mixtures, which can result in a narrow therapeutic window and have major pharmacokinetic implications. In order for ADCs to deliver their full potential, sophisticated site-specific conjugation technologies to connect the drug to the antibody are vital. This Perspective discusses the strategies currently used for the site-specific construction of ADCs and appraises their merits and disadvantages.