Asia ADC Leaders 2026: Who Is Winning the Antibody-Drug Conjugate Race

Drugnews | As of November 1, 2026 | Data: 40 Asian-originated ADC assets and 71 ADC licensing deals (January 2023 – October 2026), each row sourced to a company release, exchange filing, trial registry or regulator.

The short answer

As of November 2026, Daiichi Sankyo is still the only Asian company with a global ADC franchise: Enhertu and Datroway are approved in the US, and three more ADCs are in Phase 3 with Merck & Co.

China, however, now owns the pipeline. 33 of the 40 most advanced Asian ADCs come from Chinese companies. Jiangsu Hengrui has the deepest late-stage bench (one approved ADC and five in Phase 3), and Kelun-Biotech, SystImmune/Baili, Hansoh, MediLink, DualityBio and Innovent have each turned their ADCs into big-pharma deals.

One gap still defines the race: no China-originated ADC has been approved by the US FDA. The first could be Kelun's sacituzumab tirumotecan (sac-TMT), partnered with Merck, with a US decision date of June 15, 2027.

The ranking

We grouped companies into four tiers, using the same yardstick for everyone: approved ADCs, ADCs filed for approval, Phase 3 ADCs, and whether a global pharma company has paid to license them.

Counts cover each company's assets inside our top-40 list. "Filed" means a completed Phase 3 with an application under review in China.

Five things the data says

1. Japan built the category; China filled the pipeline. Six of the top 40 are Japanese, five of them Daiichi Sankyo. Thirty-three are Chinese. South Korea has one at Phase 3. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore have none yet.

2. Big pharma has been buying in volume. We counted 71 ADC deals with an Asian licensor since January 2023: 52 from China and 11 from South Korea. The biggest 2026 deals were Innovent–Pfizer ($650 million upfront for a 12-program pact that mixes ADCs with other modalities), MediLink–Roche ($570 million upfront and near-term milestones for YL201) and Hansoh–Roche ($400 million upfront).

3. Buyers have moved from molecules to engines. Roche paid Hansoh $400 million upfront in October 2026 for ADCs that have not yet been tested in people. Genentech's platform deal with DualityBio and Pfizer's 12-program pact with Innovent point the same way: global buyers now pay for repeatable design capability, not just a single asset.

4. The crowd is real. HER2 accounts for 12 of the top 40 assets, and at least five Chinese HER2 ADCs are running head-to-head against T-DM1. B7-H3 is next: Hansoh's HS-20093 and MediLink's YL201 both cut the risk of death by about 54% versus topotecan in small-cell lung cancer in 2026, and both are filed in China.

5. The best BD opportunities sit in the unpartnered late-stage assets. At least 12 Asian ADCs in Phase 3 or later have no Western partner we could find, including CSPC's DP303c and SYS6010, Lepu's MRG003, Mabwell's 9MW2821, Alphamab's JSKN003 and four Hengrui programs (SHR-A1921, SHR-A2009, SHR-A2102, SHR-A1912). For a global buyer, this is the short list.

Three corrections to common assumptions

• I-DXd is not approved. Daiichi Sankyo and Merck withdrew the US application on September 25, 2026; it remains in Phase 3.
• HER3-DXd's US application was also withdrawn (May 2025).
• LM-302 has no Western partner. Bristol Myers Squibb ended that deal in October 2024.

What to watch next

1. June 15, 2027: the US decision on sac-TMT, which could make it the first China-originated ADC approved by the FDA.
2. China approvals for the six filed ADCs (DB-1303, IBI343, LM-302, DP303c, HS-20093, YL201) over the next 12 months.
3. Whether the unpartnered Phase 3 assets above find global licensees, and at what upfront.

Frequently asked questions

Which Asian company leads in ADCs?
Daiichi Sankyo, with two US-approved ADCs (Enhertu and Datroway) and three more in Phase 3 partnered with Merck & Co., as of November 2026.

Which Chinese company has the most late-stage ADCs?
Jiangsu Hengrui, with one approved ADC (SHR-A1811) and five ADCs in Phase 3, as of November 2026.

Has any China-originated ADC been approved by the FDA?
Not as of November 2026. Kelun-Biotech and Merck's sacituzumab tirumotecan has a US decision date of June 15, 2027.

What was the largest Asian ADC licensing deal since 2023?
Daiichi Sankyo–Merck & Co. in October 2023: $4.0 billion upfront and up to $22 billion in total for three ADCs. The largest from a Chinese company was SystImmune–Bristol Myers Squibb in December 2023, with $800 million upfront.

Which Taiwanese companies are developing ADCs?
OBI Pharma leads with OBI-992 (TROP2) in Phase 1/2. See our Taiwan ADC companies map.

Methodology: assets ranked by highest development stage; deals limited to an Asian licensor or seller, January 1, 2023 to October 31, 2026; upfronts as disclosed, with mixed non-ADC bundles flagged. Full asset and deal tables, with sources, are published on this page and updated monthly. This is industry analysis, not investment advice.