Harbour BioMed, a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel antibody therapeutics in immunology and oncology, has entered into a long-term strategic collaboration with Yantai Lannacheng Biotechnology to jointly advance the development of next-generation radionuclide drug conjugates.
Radionuclide drug conjugates are designed to deliver radionuclides directly to tumor lesions using tumor antigen–specific ligands, enabling targeted radiotherapy while minimising damage to surrounding healthy tissues. Compared with conventional radiotherapy, this approach improves precision, and unlike antibody–drug conjugates, radionuclides can exert cytotoxic effects on neighbouring tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment even when those cells do not express the target antigen.
This characteristic offers potential advantages in addressing tumor heterogeneity and drug resistance, while also supporting theranostic applications that combine diagnostic imaging with therapeutic intervention.
Harbour BioMed brings to the collaboration its proprietary Harbour Mice® antibody discovery platform, which enables the generation of fully human monoclonal antibodies in both conventional two heavy and two light chain formats and heavy chain-only formats without the need for additional engineering or humanisation.
The company’s heavy chain-only antibody technology produces antibodies that are approximately half the size of conventional immunoglobulins, offering benefits such as low immunogenicity, improved tissue penetration, high specificity and stability. These attributes are expected to enhance targeted delivery efficiency in radionuclide drug conjugates, improving therapeutic efficacy while reducing toxicity and side effects.
Lannacheng is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialisation of integrated theranostic radiopharmaceuticals for oncology.
Through this collaboration, Harbour BioMed and Lannacheng aim to integrate antibody discovery with radiopharmaceutical research, development and commercialisation to build a sustainable, scalable and innovative pipeline of radionuclide-based therapies.
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