by CHEN Yang

Despite securing more than $6 billion in overseas licensing deals, Duality Biotherapeutics is pursuing a STAR Market IPO to fund late-stage trials and commercialization.

The China-based ADC developer said on April 13 that its board had approved plans to list on Shanghai's STAR Market. The plan requires shareholder approval on April 29 and regulatory clearance.

Duality Biotherapeutics plans to raise up to 6.75 billion yuan (about $988 million). About 68% of the proceeds will fund global development of two core antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates—DB-1310 (HER3) and DB-1311 (B7-H3)—while 17% will support other pipeline programs and 15% will be allocated to working capital.

Both candidates are currently in global Phase II trials. The planned fundraising will primarily support Phase III or registrational studies in lung, breast and prostate cancers.

According to company disclosures, Duality Biotherapeutics holds global rights to DB-1310. For DB-1311, it retains China rights and has an option to co-develop and commercialize the drug in the United States with BioNTech. The company told Jiemian News it would disclose any decision on exercising the option in line with regulatory requirements.

The move follows the company's Hong Kong listing in April 2025, which raised roughly HK$1.75 billion including the greenshoe option. As of end-2025, about HK$1.05 billion remained. Shares closed at HK$286.8 on April 14, giving the company a market capitalization of around HK$25.9 billion.

Founded in 2019, Duality Biotherapeutics has benefited from renewed global interest in ADCs following the success of Enhertu, developed by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo, which reshaped the treatment landscape for HER2-positive breast cancer and renewed industry focus on ADCs.

Riding that momentum, the company has struck multiple outbound licensing deals with a combined value exceeding $6 billion. Key transactions include granting overseas rights for DB-1303 (HER2), DB-1311, and DB-1305 (TROP2) to BioNTech, while DB-1312 (B7-H4) and DB-1324 (CDH17) were licensed to BeiGene and GSK, respectively.

Such business development (BD) deals are a major source of revenue for the company. Revenue reached 1.94 billion yuan in 2024 and 1.85 billion yuan in 2025.

However, the company remains loss-making. Net losses widened from 1.05 billion yuan in 2024 to 2.59 billion yuan in 2025, driven largely by fair value changes in preferred shares and costs associated with licensed R&D activities. Operating losses were narrower at 189 million yuan and 487 million yuan, respectively.

Reliance on licensing income adds volatility. Such deals are non-recurring, with a significant portion of total value tied to milestone payments that depend on clinical progress and partners' strategic decisions. In addition, targets such as HER2 and TROP2 are already crowded, intensifying competition and limiting upside even with differentiated indications.

Late-stage global trials—particularly overseas—are capital-intensive, reinforcing the need for fresh funding.

In April 2026, China's National Medical Products Administration accepted the new drug application for DB-1303, targeting second-line treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. The company said it has built a commercialization team and partnered with 3SBio to support market access, medical affairs and channel management in China.

Duality Biotherapeutics has structured its pipeline in three tiers. Beyond its ADC programs based on the DITAC platform, the company plans to broaden into newer targets such as DB-1317 (ADAM9), develop bispecific ADCs such as DB-1419 (B7-H3/PD-L1), and explore autoimmune indications including DB-2304 (BDCA2) for lupus. A third tier will focus on next-generation or dual-payload ADCs aimed at overcoming resistance to TOP1 inhibitor-based therapies.

As of end-2025, the company held cash and bank balances of about 3.33 billion yuan as it moves into more capital-intensive stages of development.