The Japanese cancer drug powerhouse Daiichi Sankyo has its sights on the next generation of targeted oncology drugs, and this time it might not need a partner to get it over the line.

"We¡¯re in a place now where we¡¯ve got a lot of the capabilities that we didn¡¯t have five years ago, so I think the bar for us to consider bringing in a partner gets higher and higher,¡± Ken Keller, CEO of Daiichi¡¯s U.S. subsidiary, said in an interview at the European Society for Medical Oncology.

AstraZeneca and Daiichi¡¯s breast cancer drug Enhertu is based off of Daiichi¡¯s antibody-drug conjugate platform DXd, and was the top-selling ADC globally in 2023.