The Ohio State University has licensed a new generation of targeted cancer therapy technologies that expand researchers’ ability to combine and deliver two drugs using a single antibody.
BiFormyx BioPharma Inc. exclusively licensed the technologies this spring, building on an initial exclusive licensing agreement with Ohio State in early 2025. A patent application covering the antibody-drug conjugates received a notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in August 2026.
Developed in the laboratory of X. Margaret Liu, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, the dual-payload co-conjugation technologies allow two different, synergistic drugs to be attached at distinct sites on the same antibody. Researchers and drug developers can vary the antibodies, drug combinations and relative amounts of each drug to develop potential treatments for different cancers.
The technologies build on an earlier approach from Liu’s laboratory that paired a cancer-killing drug with a drug intended to activate an immune response. The newer platforms can accommodate different antibodies and combinations of chemotherapy and immunotherapy drugs, or two chemotherapy drugs.
The therapies remain in preclinical development and have not yet been tested in humans.
Liu, a member of Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and Center for Cancer Engineering and scientific co-founder of BiFormyx, said the original approach combines two functions in one therapy.
“The technology uses one antibody to carry two drugs,” Liu said. “One drug kills cancer cells and the second drug helps activate the patient’s immune system against the cancer.”
The treatments belong to a class known as antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs. An ADC uses an antibody to recognize a specific protein on a cancer cell’s surface and deliver its drug cargo to cells bearing that target while limiting exposure of healthy tissue.
Liu’s laboratory developed an antibody for potential treatments targeting breast and lung cancers. The approach takes advantage of proteins found at high levels on the surface of some cancer cells.
“Our antibody can specifically target and find these receptors,” Liu said. “When the antibody binds to the receptor, it finds the cancer cell.”
The newly licensed technologies offer greater control over that delivery. Researchers can adjust the number of drug molecules attached to each antibody and the ratio of one drug to another. They can also modify the chemical linkers connecting the drugs to the antibody, changes intended to improve stability and safety as a treatment circulates through the body.
The processes used to assemble the treatments are also designed to support large-scale manufacturing, allowing the platform to be adapted for multiple potential therapies.
BiFormyx is an early-stage oncology company focused on developing dual-payload ADCs. The company is moving its headquarters to Columbus to advance two treatment programs based on research from Liu’s laboratory, including potential therapies for triple-negative breast cancer and lung cancer.
Liu said the company evaluated the earlier therapy in multiple preclinical disease models and obtained promising results that supported further development. BiFormyx subsequently licensed the newer technologies after the laboratory published its findings in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
“The license that happened this spring is a continuation of the licensing of the previous technology,” Liu said.
Whether the treatments will be safe and effective in people remains to be determined through clinical testing.
For its first treatment program, BiFormyx is conducting studies in nonhuman primates and preparing manufacturing processes to produce material for potential clinical trials, Liu said. A second treatment program is also in development.
The company hopes to submit an Investigational New Drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in early 2028, with a goal of beginning a clinical trial later that year. That timeline depends on completion of the necessary studies, manufacturing work and regulatory review.
Ohio State is among the anticipated clinical trial sites, Liu said.
“The BiFormyx team is working very hard to move the commercialization process forward, prepare FDA filings and get ready for clinical trials,” Liu said.