The ADC modality has produced several important drugs of the past decade, and we are impressed with recent clinical updates in new cancer indications. The space continues to improve upon the safety and efficacy profile of ADC-based drugs (and the range of treatments that they may be able to offer) through progress in linker chemistry, conjugation technology, and payload (i.e., toxin) selection. We believe ADCs will solidify as a core treatment in the standard of care for many cancers, potentially across multiple lines of treatment given innovations in targeting and payload choices.
Wellington Homepage

Changechevron_right

## Wellington Alternative Investments

...

### Contact us

...

menu

search

1. Insights

2. Capabilities

3. Sustainability

4. About Us

5. Careers

6. My Account

## Explore our insights

## Asset class

## Key Topics

## Formats

## 2024 Mid-year Investment Outlook

## Asset class

## Investment Solutions

## Sustainable Investing

## Stewardship Principles

## Investment Solutions

## Corporate Sustainability

## About us

## Contact Us

## Media & press

## Unique Perspectives

## Careers

Search to find the correct information:

search

# Biotech for the next decade: Private market innovations

Multiple authors

2024-07-31

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

1. Insights chevron_right
2. Biotech for the next decade: Private market innovations chevron_right

The views expressed are those of the authors at the time of writing. Other teams may hold different views and make different investment decisions. The value of your investment may become worth more or less than at the time of original investment. While any third-party data used is considered reliable, its accuracy is not guaranteed. For professional, institutional, or accredited investors only.

View More

## Share this page

close

Copy

A new age of innovation is fueling breakthroughs across biotech, and we believe private companies are at the forefront of this progress. Immunomodulatory therapies, precision oncology, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), radiopharmaceuticals, genetic medicines, and a range of other novel treatment modalities are poised to fundamentally change the standard of care for patients around the globe over the next decade. We believe that, amid widespread market volatility over the past 18 months, scientific advancements across private biotech continue unabated. In this piece, we share our views on some of the top innovations we’re tracking in the private biotech market.

View More

### Immunomodulatory therapies

Autoimmune and inflammatory diseases are key areas that we believe have plenty of unmet need and growth potential over the next decade. The unprecedented availability of private capital has enabled many private companies to be built around treatments for many patient indications in these areas. Targets that offer more specific immune modulation (and could therefore improve the risk/benefit profile) or more convenient routes of administration (through oral or extended activity formulations) are of particularly high interest to our team in the years ahead.

### Precision oncology

Programs targeting specific tumor mutations have attracted a lot of capital over the past decade, but enthusiasm has been tempered by recent lukewarm launches, FDA scrutiny around the accelerated path to approval, and uncertainties around development after the Inflation Reduction Act.

However, we continue to be impressed by the progression of the underlying science and higher-than-average odds of clinical success for such programs. Notably, we have become increasingly focused on targets that suggest high efficacy and low competition, as well as oncology indications where there is a high and undisputable unmet medical need. In our view, innovations with these characteristics are better positioned to navigate the evolving challenges in the precision oncology space.

### Antibody drug conjugates

Unlike conventional chemotherapy treatments that are toxic to healthy cells, antibody drug conjugates deliver chemotherapy agents directly to cancer cells. This is made possible by a “linker” that attaches a toxin to a monoclonal antibody that then binds to a specific target expressed on a cancer cell. By binding to the target, the ADC is able to release the cytotoxic drug directly into the cancer cell and avoid harming healthy cells.

The ADC modality has produced several important drugs of the past decade, and we are impressed with recent clinical updates in new cancer indications. The space continues to improve upon the safety and efficacy profile of ADC-based drugs (and the range of treatments that they may be able to offer) through progress in linker chemistry, conjugation technology, and payload (i.e., toxin) selection. We believe ADCs will solidify as a core treatment in the standard of care for many cancers, potentially across multiple lines of treatment given innovations in targeting and payload choices.

### Radiopharmaceuticals

Radiopharmaceuticals, or radioligand therapies, are another targeted form of cancer treatment that deliver radiation to specifically targeted cancer cells, with minimal effect on surrounding healthy tissue.  Momentum in the space has increased in recent years driven by encouraging clinical data and strong recent launches targeting neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer. In our view, this innovation, despite recent progress, is still in the early stages and the modality will continue to build on the precision oncology and ADC themes.

Further, radiopharmaceuticals have historically been hampered by the complexity of their commercial execution, but we believe recent advances and a growing market infrastructure should help overcome these challenges and increase pharma interest in the space.

### T-cell-based therapies

CAR T-cell-based therapies have dramatically changed the standard of care and prospects of patients who suffer from a variety of blood cancers. The next wave of innovation in this space could improve upon the complicated logistical challenges of existing autologous approaches (which use cells from the patient). Novel manufacturing technologies could significantly shrink the process timeline or enable an off-the-shelf, allogeneic approach (which would broaden the source of cells beyond the patient).

Targeting solid tumors with these cellular therapies has proven to be challenging, and there is significant room for progress in this area. We are keeping an eye on novel CAR T-cell therapies that are armored with additional mechanisms that have the potential to survive the defenses of tumors in the tumor microenvironment. In our view, recent preliminary data from T-cell receptor (TCR)-targeting modalities — in both soluble (TCR engagers) and cell therapy (TCR-Ts) formats — combined with proof-of-concept clinical data from public companies working on this modality show encouraging progress. As we continue to explore the space, we are excited by second-generation products being built by multiple private companies focused on this innovation.

### Targeted protein degradation

Protein degradation, through either proteolysis-targeting chimeric technologies (PROTACs) or molecular glues, is an area of high activity in the private markets. Unlike traditional small-molecule inhibitors that require an accessible catalytic site to block the activity of a protein, degraders can leverage any binding pocket or, in some cases, no binding pockets at all. As such, the modality can target previously undruggable proteins. In particular, the PROTAC field has advanced tremendously in recent years. We are now exploring the nascent space of molecular glues, which could see its historically challenging drug design issues helped by new breakthroughs in the field.

View More

### Genetic medicines

- Gene therapy, which aims to replace a defective gene with a functional copy, has had plenty of safety and regulatory ups and downs over the past two decades. Critically, however, a couple of high-profile recent and expected approvals have highlighted the progress gene therapy has made on both the clinical development and regulatory fronts. We see potential in current efforts directed at improving vector capacity, transgene expression, and tissue targeting, as well as at diminishing immunogenicity.
- Gene editing is a newer technology that seeks to remove or repair errors in a patient's genetic material — in other words, to directly correct the defective genes. If tractable, this is a more elegant approach than gene therapy, since it might allow structure and functional gene correction without significant disruption to genetic regulation or the overall cellular environment. It thus, theoretically, removes some of the risks of supra-physiological gene activity and mitigates durability risk. While several gene therapy treatments have been approved over the past few years, in vivo gene editing is still an emerging approach with only a handful of companies advancing clinical programs predicated upon this modality. Notably, multiple private companies are proposing new and improved mechanisms. We think the risk/ reward of the approach is sensible in the context of orphan diseases with genetically validated targets and are actively following the space.

View More

### Bottom line on biotech innovation in private markets

Many of biotech’s most exciting advancements are on the cusp of markedly improving the standard of care for patients in numerous diseases. In our view, the private markets are driving innovation across modalities, and we expect both scientific and regulatory progress to persist in the next decade and beyond.

View More

## Experts

margine-irina

Sector Lead, Biotech Private Investments

nilesh kumar

Head, Biotech Private Investments

castillo ross

Principal, Biotech Private Investments

## Related insights

Showing

of

Insights Posts

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

By

event

4
min

Article

2025-08-31

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

By

event

6
min

2025-08-31

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Multiple authors

event

8
min

Article

2025-07-30

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

By

event

8
min

Whitepaper

2025-07-01

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Multiple authors

event

7
min

Article

2025-06-30

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Multiple authors

event

Article

2025-06-30

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

By

event

14
min

Article

2025-05-23

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

URL References

Related Insights

## Share this page

close

Copy

Stay up to date with the latest market insights and our point of view.

SUBSCRIBE_mail_outline_

highlight_off

You've been subscribed

Thank you for subscribing. You can manage your subscription using the links provided in any of our subscription emails.

Close

## Read next

Showing

of

Insights Posts

2032712798

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

We explore today's biotech IPO market, highlighting recent market trends, key characteristics for successful biotech IPOs, and best practices to sustain momentum as a public biotechnology company.

By

event

4
min

Article

2025-08-31

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

1035600004

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

What's next for Asian venture capital? After a decade of growth, we explore key questions and best practices for VC investors and private companies in the region.

By

event

6
min

2025-08-31

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

server-room-gen-ai-hero-banner

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Explore the critical need for AI governance for private companies, addressing evolving risks, regulations, and best practices for responsible gen AI usage.

Multiple authors

event

8
min

Article

2025-07-30

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

1486716455

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Members of our late-state growth equity team share their views on the impact of interest rates on venture capital activity — including the ability of companies to reach “unicorns” status.

By

event

8
min

Whitepaper

2025-07-01

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Mid Year Outlook Designs 4_sd_v2

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

We share eight of the themes driving venture capital markets in 2024, including capital efficiency, DPI, the IPO market recovery, and much more.

Multiple authors

event

7
min

Article

2025-06-30

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Mid Year Outlook Designs 4_sd_v2

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

In our private market outlook collection, we explore the themes driving the rapid evolution of private credit and private equity markets.

Multiple authors

event

Article

2025-06-30

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

1413597282

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Two members of our late-stage growth team share insights and results from their recent analysis of enterprise-value trajectories for private, non-biotech health care companies.

By

event

14
min

Article

2025-05-23

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

1215126758

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

A member of our early-stage venture team explores the many ways in which artificial intelligence is likely to transform the consumer experience.

By

event

Article

2025-03-31

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

podcasts mic stand and headphones

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Wellington head of private climate Greg Wasserman discusses his team's approach to helping private companies progress along their growth journey

By

event

Video

2025-01-31

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Mid Year Outlook Designs

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

Our private investing team sees positive signals indicating that the recent downturn in venture capital may have hit bottom. Just as privates trailed the public market correction in 2022, we believe they will follow its recovery.

By

event

Article

2025-01-31

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

1473481664

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

We explain what the direct and indirect rate exposure of buyouts, venture capital, growth equity, secondaries, and fund-of-funds mean for investors.

By

event

Article

2025-01-31

Archived
info

Archived pieces remain available on the site. Please consider the publish date while reading these older pieces.

URL References

Related Insights

#### legal Information

#### follow us

© Copyright 2024 Wellington Management Company LLP. All rights reserved. WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT ® is a registered service mark of Wellington Group Holdings LLP. For institutional or professional investors only.

View More