Antibody-drug conjugates

ADCs are not chemotherapy — and shouldn't be monitored like it.

An antibody-drug conjugate is an engineered system — a targeting antibody, a linker, and a cytotoxic payload — and its toxicity follows the payload, not the tumor type. Ocular surface effects, interstitial lung disease, hepatic signals: a chemotherapy-shaped safety plan is built to miss exactly the pattern that matters.

Why this modality is different

Four things a chemotherapy playbook gets wrong

Toxicity is organ-specific, not diffuse

Ocular surface toxicity, interstitial lung disease, and hepatic effects appear in patterns a chemotherapy-shaped monitoring plan under-weights or misses entirely.

The payload — not the antibody — drives the signal

Payload class and linker stability determine which organs are at risk; the antibody target alone doesn't tell you what to watch for.

Specialist referral pathways need to exist before dosing

Ophthalmology, pulmonology, or hepatology referral triggers built into the protocol catch signals early — added after the first event, they catch them late.

Off-target delivery is a distinct failure mode

Linker instability releasing payload systemically is a different safety question from on-target, off-tumor effects — and needs its own signal definition.

Where programs stumble

Four recurring failure points

Design

Monitoring schedules borrowed from a prior chemotherapy program instead of built around this ADC's specific payload and linker chemistry.

Safety

Organ-specific signals — ocular, pulmonary, hepatic — adjudicated by a generalist reviewer without the modality-specific map the molecule requires.

Regulatory

Labeling and REMS strategy for organ-specific toxicity started too late to shape the monitoring plan it was meant to inform.

Operational

Sites without the specialist referral network the protocol assumes — an ophthalmology consult that takes three weeks when the signal needs three days.

Expert-in-the-loop roles by phase

Where the judgment sits, stage by stage

Pre-IND

Organ-aware signal definitions and specialist referral triggers, set from the payload's known toxicity profile.

Start-up

Site readiness review — confirming the ophthalmology, pulmonology, or hepatology referral pathway actually exists.

Conduct

Named physician adjudicates organ-specific signals against the payload-aware criteria set at study start.

Post-market

Label-relevant organ toxicity surveillance and signal management as real-world exposure accumulates.

See the full expertise lifecycle map →

Who is on the bench

Named, credentialed, and on the record

Dr. Ashok Srivastava

Dr. Ashok Srivastava, MD, Ph.D., MBA

President & Chief Medical Officer

Board-certified oncologist with immuno-oncology drug development experience across 27 INDs, 9 NDAs, and 3 BLAs. 135 oncology & hematology trials across 20 countries — the base of judgment organ-specific ADC toxicity review draws on.

Related offers

Educate · Evaluate · Execute for ADCs

Educate

ADC safety briefing

Organ-specific toxicity patterns, specialist referral design, and labeling implications — for your board and clinical team.

Evaluate

IHASG Readiness Assessment

A graded review of your safety governance against an ADC-specific standard, with a roadmap to Level 4.

Execute

Continuous Medical Oversight

A named physician reviewer on the Workbench, adjudicating organ-specific signals against payload-aware criteria.

See the full IHASG model →

Frequently asked

Questions ADC programs ask us

Is ADC toxicity really different enough from chemotherapy to need a different monitoring plan?

Yes — ADC toxicity is frequently organ-specific and payload-driven (ocular surface, interstitial lung disease, hepatic effects) rather than the diffuse myelosuppressive pattern of classical chemotherapy. A monitoring plan built for chemotherapy can under-weight or miss these signals entirely.

Do you help design the specialist referral pathways, not just the safety monitoring plan?

Yes — organ-aware ADC monitoring means the ophthalmology, pulmonology, or hepatology referral triggers are built into the protocol from the start, not added after the first event.

Is your ADC experience specific to one payload class?

Our named reviewer's oncology drug development experience spans multiple payload classes; the specific monitoring plan and referral pathways are scoped to your ADC's payload and linker chemistry on a call.

The signal is organ-specific

Talk to an ADC safety expert.

Bring us the monitoring plan, the referral pathway design, or the safety review you're building.

Book a call