Antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) have progressed from hypothesis to approved therapeutics in less than 30 years, and the technologies available to modify both the antibodies and the cytotoxic drugs are expanding rapidly. For reasons well reviewed previously, the field is trending strongly toward homogeneous, defined antibody conjugation. In this review we present the antibody and small molecule chemistries that are currently used and being explored to develop specific, homogenous ADCs.
Keywords: antibody drug conjugates (ADCs); homogenous conjugates; protein engineering; site-specific conjugation; targeted delivery.