The gain of a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) capability through the acquisition of NBE-Therapeutics (Basel, Switzerland) was announced by Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany), adding to its existing immune celltargeting assets and enhancing the company′s cancer therapeutics portfolio [1].The NBE-Therapeutics technol. platform, immune-stimulatory ADC (IADC), brings together a tumor cell-targeted monoclonal antibody, linked to an immune-stimulatory cytotoxic anthracycline payload linked via unique enzymic site-specific linker technol., SMAC-TECHNOl. The result is a less heterogenous payload distribution and improved serum stability compared to other ADC technologies [2].The Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund has previously been one of the major institutional investors in NBE-Therapeutics.The acquisition also brings to Boehringer an emerging pipeline of ADCs, including the Phase I clin. asset NBE-002, an ADC targeted against ROR1, a tyrosine-protein kinase receptor expressed by various difficult-to-treat blood malignancies and solid tumors, including adenocarcinoma of the lung and triple neg. breast cancer.Trials of bulevirtide monotherapy are currently in progress. Submission to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planned for the second half of the year and the US FDA have already granted Orphan Drug and Breakthrough Therapy designations for bulevirtide in chronic HDV infection which may allow for an accelerated approval.