Global XDC 2026 Concludes Successfully: Converging Global Innovation to Open a New Chapter in XDC
The 2026 Global XDC Innovation Conference concluded in Wuxi on September 19, gathering over 1,500 global XDC leaders across a plenary and four core parallel forums to explore frontiers from ADCs and dual-payload ADCs to AOC/APC bioconjugates. As the core convening force, WuXi XDC continues to lead XDC technology innovation and its global capacity build-out.
Global XDC 2026 Highlight Reel ↓
On September 19, 2026, the 2026 Global XDC Innovation Conference — co-hosted by WuXi XDC and BioValley — concluded successfully at the InterContinental Wuxi Hotel. Viewed from the lens of building a panoramic industry ecosystem, the 2026 Global XDC Innovation Conference undoubtedly delivered a stellar report card. Centered on its core theme “Convergence & Innovation: The New Frontiers of Bioconjugation,” the conference broke from the traditional one-way broadcast model and built a deeply integrated exchange space spanning industry, academia, research, medicine and capital through a multi-dimensional matrix of “keynote reports + thematic discussions + three-dimensional industry exhibitions.” Over the two-day event, more than 1,500 leading entrepreneurs, top scientists and innovators from Asia-Pacific and Europe and America came together. The discussions spanned the entire value chain — from the development of novel payloads, to the design of emerging conjugates such as dual-payload ADCs, AOCs and APCs, to breakthroughs in preclinical translation strategy and CMC and commercialization strategy — deeply exploring the industry’s innovation and development trends and pooling global wisdom to jointly advance the XDC industry to new frontiers.
Dr. Meiying Zhu, Chief Technology Officer of WuXi XDC, served as chair of the September 19 plenary and delivered the opening remarks. “Yesterday we had a very successful day. The morning plenary and the afternoon ADC-focused breakout forum were both fruitful — from conjugation technology and linkers to payload innovation, and to the stimulating roundtable discussions, the collision of ideas brought many inspirations to the industry,” said Dr. Zhu. “Today, we are honored to once again convene global wisdom through the plenary, inviting a series of heavyweight speakers to jointly explore the infinite possibilities of novel therapies from ADC to XDC.”
The plenary officially kicked off with Dr. Zhu’s opening remarks. Xavier Preville, Chief Scientific Officer of Adcytherix SAS, shared development insights on novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) payloads, offering new ideas to expand the ADC therapeutic window; Dr. Jiaqiang Cai, co-founder and CSO of Mabplex, introduced the TMALIN ADC technology platform and its products featuring both extracellular and intracellular cleavage mechanisms, demonstrating the platform’s differentiated advantages in improving tumor specificity and reducing off-target toxicity; Dr. Gang Yin, head of R&D services at WuXi XDC, shared an integrated R&D solution for next-generation targeted conjugates, highlighting accelerated discovery strategies for novel conjugates such as dual-payload ADCs, AOCs and APCs; Enrico Bellomo, Executive Director of Whitehawk Therapeutics, elaborated an integrated approach to engineering smarter ADCs, covering the full chain from antibody, linker and payload to conjugation and stability optimization; and Evan Wang, Director of Technical & Scientific Solutions for Process Solutions at Merck Life Science China, shared experience in risk management during ADC tech transfer and scale-up. The plenary presented a series of compelling talks introducing the latest breakthroughs in ADCs and novel bioconjugate drugs. Aligned with the conference theme “Convergence & Innovation: The New Frontiers of Bioconjugation,” the plenary focused on novel payload development, breakthroughs in next-generation conjugation and linker technologies, design strategies for emerging bioconjugates such as dual-payload ADCs and AOC/APC, and an in-depth discussion of the full-chain critical topics from preclinical translation to CMC commercialization and regulatory filing — comprehensively showcasing the vibrant innovation and broad prospects of the XDC field.
The afternoon breakout forums were equally brilliant, keeping pace with the technology frontier and confronting industry challenges. Empowering XDC Success: Preclinical Development & Translation Strategy — At the forum, Jim Wu, Chairman and CEO of ArkBio, introduced the discovery and development of antiviral Fc-conjugate drugs for influenza prevention; Kiyean Nam, CSO and CEO of Qurient, shared preclinical safety and efficacy data of QP101, a HER2-targeted dual-payload ADC combining TOP1 and CDK7 inhibitors; Jinwon Jung, Senior Director of ABL Bio, presented preclinical development progress of EGFRxMUC1 bispecific ADC (ABL209/NEOK002); Wei Tian, Senior Manager of Cytiva, shared experience building ADC commercial manufacturing capacity from process to facility; Zhili Yao, Director of WuXi Biologics, introduced a one-stop translation optimization and characterization platform; Veronica Diermayr, Director of EDDC, shared EBC-129’s differentiated strategy for CEACAM5/6 ADC therapy, exploring how to turn difficult-to-drug targets into medicines; Xiaohe Shi, Senior Principal Scientist of WuXi AppTec, introduced an ADC resistance platform and pharmacological evaluation for next-generation ADC development; and Rakesh Dixit, CSO of Tmab Therapeutics, participating online, systematically analyzed the safety challenges facing next-generation conjugates such as bispecific ADCs, dual-payload ADCs, AOCs and PDCs.
Expanding XDC Frontiers: Emerging Conjugate Drugs & Molecular Design Strategies — At the forum, Yanfeng Zhang, President of Baylink Biosciences, shared ADC and DAC development based on a novel hydrophilic Linker technology platform; Yongxin Zhao, founder of Hangzhou DAC Biotechnology, introduced its ADC platform and pipeline progress; Ping Zhong, Director, and Cheng Tian, Senior Director of WuXi XDC, jointly discussed how to overcome CMC challenges of emerging modalities such as AOC, APC and multi-payload ADCs; Sam Zhang, Vice President of WuXi Biologics, introduced how advanced tool enzymes empower conjugate biologics; Wenlei Wu, General Manager of Tofflon, shared key elements of isolator CCS and VPHP functionality; and Jialiang Wang, Executive Vice President of Gyre Therapeutics, introduced protein degraders as a novel Payload class for next-generation ADCs.
In the roundtable session, Carl Deutsch, CSO of NBE Therapeutics, moderated a deep dialogue with Yusheng Wu (Chair/CEO/Founder of TYK Medicines), Bryan Ball (CTO of Whitehawk Therapeutics), Jialiang Wang (President & General Manager of Gyre Therapeutics), Cindy Cheng (Executive Director and Head of the Novel Technology team at WuXi XDC), and Gang Qin (General Manager, Founder & Chairman of GeneQuantum), around the topic “Beyond ADCs: Accelerating Novel XDC Modalities from Concept to Clinic,” jointly exploring the accelerated path for novel XDC drugs from concept to clinic.
As a hub connecting global XDC innovation, the summit pooled top-tier wisdom and, through the intellectual clash of the plenary and four core parallel forums, vividly outlined the broad blueprint of the XDC and bioconjugate field. Behind this globally collaborative event, WuXi XDC — in the posture of a core leader and drawing on its deep CRDMO heritage — continues to drive the iterative breakthroughs of XDC technology, injecting an irreplaceable and powerful engine to accelerate innovative drugs from concept to global clinic. As the global leading bioconjugate CRDMO, WuXi XDC continues to deepen its technology platforms and global capacity build-out to meet growing industry demand, providing end-to-end solutions across the full chain from early R&D to commercial manufacturing, and accelerating the development and commercialization of innovative XDC therapies. In 2025, the company achieved revenue of RMB 5.944 billion, up 46.7% YoY; adjusted net profit reached RMB 1.559 billion, up 69.9% YoY. In H1 2026, the company sustained strong growth with revenue of RMB 3.701 billion, up 37.0% YoY; gross margin improved to 37.0%; adjusted net profit attributable to owners reached RMB 1.027 billion, up 37.4% YoY.
In technology innovation, the company continues to upgrade its two core technology platforms, WuXiDARx™ and WuXiPayload-Linker™, and the dp-ADC (2+6) developed by integrating WuXiDARx™, WuXiTecan-2 and WuXiMMAE demonstrated stronger efficacy, better plasma stability and greater tumor-killing activity than traditional random DAR4 ADC (conjugated MC-VC-MMAE) — also showing significant advantages in process development and manufacturing, making it a next-generation ADC that genuinely solves the major pain points of today’s ADC industry. In February 2026, the company reached a WuXiTecan-2™ platform license agreement with Earendil Labs, with a potential total transaction value of up to US$885 million. On September 17, the day before the summit opened, the company added another major collaboration, signing a WuXiTecan-2™ platform license agreement with Ona Therapeutics. Under this collaboration, Ona Therapeutics will advance next-generation ADC candidates based on its self-discovered first-in-class targets combined with the WuXiTecan-2™ platform.
To meet the strong and growing global demand, WuXi XDC has built a robust global capacity network. In August 2026, the BCM3 dual-function line for conjugate antibody intermediates and drug substance, together with the DP4 formulation line at its Singapore site, completed GMP release and officially commenced operation, marking a new stage in its global capacity layout. The Wuxi site maintains high utilization; XPLM1 L2 is expected to achieve GMP release by end-2026/early-2027, while DP5 and DP6 lines are planned for release in H1 2027 and H1 2028 respectively. The Jiangyin site focuses on large-scale payload-linker production, planning to expand capacity to 5x the Wuxi site’s existing capacity. In addition, the company completed the acquisition of a 60% stake in Tonghao Biotechnology (Dongyao Pharmaceutical) in March 2026, further supplementing monoclonal antibody intermediate, drug substance (DS) and drug product (DP) capacity at its Suzhou site. This “China + Singapore” dual-site synergistic global capacity layout provides a solid guarantee for the global supply of XDC drugs from clinic to commercialization.
In terms of project pipeline, as of June 30, 2026, the company had 328 ongoing iCMC projects, up 46% YoY, of which 162 were post-IND and 57 were Phase II and later. Total backlog of uncompleted service orders grew 62% YoY to US$2.16 billion; the pipeline is accelerating conversion to later stages, with 4–6 BLAs expected to be filed in full-year 2026. The company’s global market share continues to rise, having served 814 global clients cumulatively, with 15 of the world’s top 20 pharma companies already partnering with the company. As a landmark industry event in the global bioconjugate field, the 2026 Global XDC Innovation Conference not only marks an important milestone in XDC technology development, but also demonstrates the relentless efforts of industry professionals to bring new hope to patients worldwide. Beyond the plenary and four core parallel forums, the conference also hosted Biopartnering business matchmaking, one-on-one meetings, high-end private dinners and exhibitions of the latest pipelines and technology achievements in the XDC field, providing all participants with a platform for deep exchange and collaboration, and advancing the common progress and development of the global XDC ecosystem. As the summit concludes successfully, we look forward with confidence that these scientific discoveries, innovative process technologies and research results will be timely translated into medical breakthroughs, accelerating the fulfillment of unmet clinical needs and benefiting patients worldwide. See you next year at the Global XDC Innovation Conference!
About WuXi XDC (Stock Code: 2268.HK): WuXi XDC Biologics Inc. (Stock Code: 2268.HK) is the global leading Contract Research, Development and Manufacturing Organization (CRDMO) for bioconjugate drugs. The company provides global clients with diverse innovative conjugation technologies and payload-linker technologies to enable the R&D of next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), focusing on one-stop services for ADCs and other bioconjugate drugs from early R&D and preclinical through commercial manufacturing, covering R&D and GMP production of antibody or other conjugate intermediates, linker/payload-linkers, conjugated drug substances and conjugated formulations. For more information, please visit: www.wuxixdc.com.