Event preview of the 5th Novel Conjugates Summit 2026
Bioconjugate Insights 2026; 1(1), 31–33
DOI: 10.18609/bci.2026.005
Bioconjugate Insights presents a preview of the 5th Novel Conjugates Summit, taking place March 17–19, 2026, in Boston, MA, USA. The meeting will bring together discovery and early development leaders from biotech, pharma, and academia to examine how novel targeting formats and payload strategies are expanding the therapeutic reach of conjugates across oncology and beyond.
With growing interest in bispecific ADCs (BsADCs), multispecific constructs, degraders, and immune-stimulating payloads, the summit will focus on how advances in targeting logic, delivery mechanisms, and payload design are helping developers address tumor heterogeneity, resistance, and on-target off-tissue toxicity. Across 3 days, the program will explore how emerging conjugate modalities are progressing from concept to preclinical and translational validation.
Expanding targeting logic through bispecific & multispecific conjugates
A central theme of the meeting is the evolution of targeting strategies designed to improve selectivity and functional synergy. Conditional and multispecific approaches are gaining traction as developers seek to refine payload delivery in complex disease settings.
In the session ‘Conditional logic-gated bispecific ADCs: harnessing novel dual antigen fingerprints to expand efficacy and minimize on-target/off-tissue toxicity’, Tiffany Thorn (Chief Executive Officer, BiVictrix Therapeutics) will outline how logic-gated designs leverage dual antigen expression patterns to enhance tumor selectivity. The presentation will examine design principles and preclinical insights supporting the use of BsADCs in heterogeneous cancers.
Complementing this approach, ‘Multispecific drug conjugates for combatting tumor heterogeneity & drug resistance’ will be presented by Caitlyn Miller (Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, TwoStep Therapeutics). This session will explore how multispecific targeting formats can address variability in antigen expression and overcome resistance mechanisms that limit the efficacy and safety of conventional single-target conjugates.
Together, these sessions highlight how next-generation targeting architectures are being used to expand the therapeutic window while maintaining control over safety and biodistribution.
Degrader & PROTAC-conjugate based delivery
The integration of targeted protein degradation into antibody-based delivery systems represents another rapidly advancing area. Degrader-antibody conjugates and PROTAC-ADCs are opening new possibilities for addressing previously intractable targets.
Andrea Geist’s (Senior Scientist, PROxAb Shuttle, Merck) presentation ‘Targeted PROTAC delivery: principles of crafting PROTAC-ADCs and self-assembling PROxAb shuttles’, will highlight the design and application of PROxAb Shuttle technology. The discussion will focus on how self-assembling systems have the potential to expedite the discovery of degrader-ADCs while maintaining favorable pharmacokinetic properties.
This theme will be further reinforced by Alice Chen (Chief Scientific Officer, Baylink Biosciences), who will discuss broader strategies for degrader-antibody conjugates, including linker considerations that influence efficacy and safety. These talks will provide insight into how targeted degradation is being translated into conjugate formats suitable for in vivo application.
Dual-payload & immunostimulatory conjugates
As resistance to single cytotoxic payloads continues to challenge ADC development, dual-payload strategies are emerging as a means of enhancing durability and immune engagement.
Garrett Gross (Director, Research Innovation and Protein Engineering, Sutro Biopharma) will present ‘Dual-payload ADCs to enhance anti-tumor immune response and overcome payload resistance’. He will explore dual-payload ADCs that demonstrate increased preclinical in vitro and in vivo efficacy, thereby overcoming acquired single-payload resistance. He will further highlight promising pharmacokinetics using a novel cell-free platform to create site-selective, high DAR, dual-payload ADCs.
By integrating immune activation with targeted cytotoxicity, these approaches reflect a broader shift toward multifunctional conjugates designed to modulate both tumor cells and the TME.
Broadening conjugate design & delivery considerations
Sujiet Puthenveetil (Director, Antibody Drug Conjugates and Radioconjugates, AstraZeneca) will contribute his perspective, along with Marc-Andre Kasper (Vice President, Chemistry and Early Development, Tubulis GmbH), on how advances in conjugation chemistry and payload integration are shaping the future of targeted therapeutics, bridging innovation across ADCs, radioconjugates, and emerging hybrid formats.
The 5th Novel Conjugates Summit will provide a focused forum for examining how novel targeting formats and payload strategies are reshaping the bioconjugate landscape. By bringing together leaders working on bispecific and multispecific ADCs, degrader-antibody conjugates, dual-payload systems, and ligand-targeted approaches, the meeting will offer a cross-modality perspective on how developers are addressing selectivity, resistance, and translational complexity.
As the field continues to move beyond traditional ADC paradigms, this summit will play an important role in clarifying where innovation is gaining traction and how emerging conjugate technologies may influence the next generation of targeted therapies.
As a reader of Bioconjugate Insights, you’re entitled to a 10% discount on delegate tickets – just use the discount code BI10NCS! You can find out more about the event here.
Want to know more about the journal or discuss a potential contribution? Drop an email to our Editor, Lauren, at lauren.coyle@insights.bio.
If you are interested in other events happening in the bioconjugate space this year, you can see our 2026 Events Calendar here.