Samsung joins $60m pre-A+ round in China's Phrontline Biopharma

Phrontline Biopharma, a Shanghai-based biotechnology company focused on antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), has raised US$60 million in a pre-A+ funding round.

The round was led by Lapam Investment, with participation from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, Guofang Innovation, Hankang Venture Capital, Songqing Capital, Jifeng Ventures, Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited, and existing investors Decheng Capital, Medfine Health Fund, and C&D Emerging Investment.

Phrontline said the funds will support the development of its clinical and preclinical ADC programs and expand global clinical operations.

Founded in 2022, Phrontline is developing bispecific and dual-payload ADCs for cancer treatment.

Its lead candidate, TJ101, is in early-stage clinical trials in China and the US.

In October 2025, Phrontline announced collaborations with Samsung Bioepis to develop two ADC candidates and with Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited for the licensing of TJ101 in mainland China and Hong Kong.

Financial terms of the licensing deal were not disclosed.

🔗 Source: Phrontline Biopharma

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Phrontline’s TJ101 is an EGFR/B7-H3 bispecific ADC; Phase 1 has begun but no clinical readouts are public

TJ101 is a bispecific antibody-drug conjugate that targets Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor and B7-H3, an immune-related protein overexpressed on tumors. Phrontline has dosed the first patient in a Phase 1 trial in China and the United States, but no efficacy or safety data are public 1 2 3.
Platforms are evolving to beat resistance. Bispecific ADCs hit multiple antigens to address tumor heterogeneity or antigen loss, while dual-payload designs like Kanghong Pharmaceutical’s KH815 pair topoisomerase I with RNA polymerase II inhibitors 4 5.
Phase 1 status offers some visibility, but no early readouts keep TJ101 risk unclear versus Alphamab Oncology and Akeso bispecific ADC efforts 2 4 6.

CROs and CDMOs can target China ADCs for US/EU work

Many China ADCs are entering global trials that need United States or European Union regulatory help, bioanalytical testing (lab-based measurement of drug and biomarker levels), and eClinical support (digital tools for trial operations) 4.
ADC manufacturing capacity keeps tightening due to complex conjugation (chemically linking the drug to the antibody), linker stability needs (keeping the connector intact until the tumor), plus hydrophobic aggregation (clumping of water-repelling drug molecules) 5. Site-specific conjugation (attaching drugs at defined locations on the antibody) with continuous-flow microreactors (small, flow-based production systems) can raise scale 4 5.
Vendors can track China-origin ADC trials on ClinicalTrials.gov (the US government database of clinical studies) to build outreach lists and time capacity 4 7.