BigHat unveils next-gen ADC designed with Lonza's Synaffix as lead program

BigHat Biosciences is adding Synaffix’s antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) tech to its wardrobe, pairing the science with its antibody design platform to tailor a next-gen ADC pipeline.

This year’s Fierce 15 winner BigHat has paid an undisclosed amount of money for commercial licensing rights to Synaffix’s site-specific ADC tech platform, according to a Nov. 4 release. BigHat will also have access to ADC offerings from Lonza, the global manufacturer that snapped up Synaffix in June 2023.

BigHat used its AI- and machine learning-powered platform, dubbed Milliner, to design an antibody to dress with Synaffix's three ADC technologies and ultimately create a differentiated ADC candidate.    

Synaffix’s sciences—known as GlycoConnect, HydraSpace and toxSYN—are designed to provide a "one-stop" platform for antibody developers to produce their own proprietary ADCs.

Synaffix is known for out-licensing its technology to other biotechs, having inked deals with ADC Therapeutics, Mersana Therapeutics, Innovent Biologics, Kyowa Kirin, Genmab, MacroGenics and Amgen, among others.

As for BigHat, the new partnership is “instrumental” in advancing the California-based biotech’s next-gen ADC program, which is in the IND-enabling stage and is slated to be BigHat’s first clinical program, according to the company.

"BigHat is leveraging our AI-driven antibody design platform, Milliner, to develop advanced biologics that provide safer and more effective treatments for difficult-to-treat cancers,” BigHat CEO Mark DePristo, Ph.D., said in the company release. “We are excited to combine Synaffix's conjugation and linker-payload technologies with our custom-designed antibody to create a next-generation ADC for patients with high unmet medical need.”

The biotech was founded in 2019 and aims to design more effective antibodies using a combination of machine learning and synthetic biology tech. Since emerging, the company has raised more than $100 million and has a pipeline of preclinical programs in several indications, including cancer and inflammation.

In less than five years, BigHat has also widened its brim via partnerships with Big Pharmas Merck & Co. and Amgen.