ADCendo

Adcendo is a biotech company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, focused on developing highly differentiated antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of cancers with high unmet medical needs. The company was founded in 2017 as a spin-out from the University of Copenhagen and Rigshospitalet. Adcendo's scientific founders, Niels Behrendt, Lars Engelholm, and Christoffer Nielsen, have over 20 years of experience researching the uPARAP receptor, which is a key target for the company's ADCs.

ADCs are an emerging class of anticancer therapeutics that direct cytotoxic payloads to malignant cells overexpressing specific surface target molecules. Adcendo's ADCs target the uPARAP receptor, which plays a crucial role in collagen turnover and cancer development and metastasis. The company's first-generation anti-uPARAP ADC demonstrated a curative outcome in a preclinical cancer model, providing proof-of-concept for this approach.

In April 2021, Adcendo closed a Series A investment round raising EUR 51 million from leading life science and biotech investors. This funding was further extended in early 2023 with an additional EUR 31 million, enabling the company to initiate a broad clinical development program for its uPARAP ADC in sarcoma and advance its second ADC pipeline asset.