Lotte Biologics said Monday it has signed a three-way memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Takeda spinoff Axcelead and young Korean biotech Kanaph Therapeutics to co-develop a customizable “ADC platform toolbox” for next-gen antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

The deal brings together Axcelead’s compound screening capabilities, Kanaph’s platform development, and Lotte’s manufacturing infrastructure to advance the linker and payload components central to ADC innovation.

These components will feed into Lotte’s proprietary ADC platform, SoluFlex Link.

Axcelead, a contract research organization spun off from Japan’s Takeda, will tap its “legacy library” of more than 1.2 million compounds and data from over 1,000 drug development programs to identify new payload candidates “not previously been applied in ADCs,” the company said.

Kanaph, for its part, is tasked with optimizing a novel ADC platform that can address the shortcomings of existing linker and payload technologies. The company said the goal is to “establish a versatile toolbox of linkers and payloads” to help overcome ADC limitations and “accelerate the development of next-generation innovative therapeutics.”

Lotte, which is aiming to strengthen its foothold in the ADC CDMO space, plans to incorporate the jointly developed technologies into its SoluFlex Link platform and provide end-to-end services ranging from R&D to GMP manufacturing for clients seeking custom ADC solutions.