Sutro Biopharma alternatives

Several clinical-stage biotechs and large pharma use site-specific conjugation or cell-free methods to build ADCs. ADC Therapeutics and Mersana Therapeutics emphasize proprietary linker-payload technologies, while Daiichi Sankyo and ImmunoGen have advanced clinical or approved assets using different manufacturing approaches. Large companies such as AstraZeneca and Roche also maintain internal ADC programs that compete for similar oncology indications.

STRO-002 targets FolRα for ovarian and endometrial cancers using Sutro’s site-specific ADC technology. ImmunoGen’s mirvetuximab and other FolRα programs from larger pharma use traditional conjugation methods. Differences appear in payload choice, dosing schedules, and therapeutic index data generated from cell-free versus cell-based antibody production.

Seagen (now part of Pfizer), ImmunoGen (now AbbVie), and Daiichi Sankyo have secured FDA approvals for ADCs in solid tumors or hematologic malignancies. These products provide real-world benchmarks on safety, efficacy, and commercial manufacturing that Sutro’s still-clinical candidates have not yet demonstrated.

Sutro highlights its ability to create single- and dual-payload ADCs via XpressCF. A smaller number of biotechs are exploring multi-payload strategies; most competitors remain focused on single-payload constructs, giving Sutro a differentiated technical angle until more dual-payload clinical data emerge from others.

Traditional cell-based expression remains the dominant approach used by Roche, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer ADC programs. These companies cite established large-scale bioreactor capacity and regulatory familiarity, whereas Sutro promotes speed and precision from its cell-free XpressCF system for rapid candidate optimization.