Genentech (Roche) and DualityBio entered a collaboration and license agreement centered on DualityBio’s DUPAC payload platform for next-generation antibody-drug conjugates. Genentech will fund the work with $45 million upfront, with milestone payments potentially exceeding $1 billion across development, regulatory, and commercial benchmarks. Under the deal structure, DualityBio will conduct discovery and early-stage global clinical development through Phase I, while Genentech will assume responsibilities for later development and worldwide commercialization. The agreement targets a payload class strategy designed to address resistance associated with topoisomerase inhibitor-based ADCs. The transaction reflects continued payer- and investor-driven urgency for ADCs that maintain efficacy as tumors progress after earlier payload exposures, with Roche betting on platform innovation plus development scale.