Daiichi Sankyo and Leveragen Ally to Fast-Track Advanced Biologics

BOSTON, MA – March 18, 2026 – Global pharmaceutical leader Daiichi Sankyo has entered into a collaboration with Boston-based biotechnology innovator Leveragen, a move set to harness next-generation antibody discovery platforms in the quest for advanced biologic therapies. The agreement, announced today, will see Daiichi Sankyo apply Leveragen’s proprietary in vivo technologies to support its research programs, signaling a significant industry investment in novel methods for developing complex antibody-based drugs.

This partnership underscores a growing trend where pharmaceutical giants are turning to specialized biotech firms to access cutting-edge tools that can accelerate and de-risk the arduous process of drug discovery. By leveraging Leveragen's unique capabilities, Daiichi Sankyo aims to bolster its already formidable pipeline and explore new therapeutic avenues across multiple disease areas.

“We are pleased to collaborate with Daiichi Sankyo, a global leader in antibody therapeutics with deep scientific expertise and a strong commitment to innovation,” said Dr. Weisheng Chen, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Leveragen, in a statement. “This collaboration reflects growing interest in next-generation in vivo discovery platforms and their potential to support diverse biologic research efforts. We look forward to working together to advance new discovery programs.”

The Next Frontier in Antibody Discovery

The collaboration centers on Leveragen's sophisticated approach to antibody discovery, which diverges from many conventional lab-based methods. The company specializes in developing genetically engineered mouse models that generate antibodies within a living, physiological system. This in vivo process allows for natural immune selection and maturation, yielding antibodies that are often more potent, specific, and less likely to cause an immune reaction in human patients.

At the heart of Leveragen’s technology is its Singularity Suite, featuring the “Singularity Sapiens Mouse.” This platform is meticulously engineered to produce a unique class of therapeutics known as single-domain antibodies (sdAbs), or nanobodies. These are fully human antibody fragments that are roughly one-tenth the size of conventional antibodies. Their small size is a game-changing advantage, enabling them to penetrate tissues more effectively and access “cryptic” binding sites on disease targets that larger molecules cannot reach.

Leveragen’s use of advanced technologies like CRISPR-facilitated gene targeting allows for the rapid and precise creation of these sophisticated models. Beyond sdAbs, the company’s Infinity and Universality suites are designed to discover conventional full-length antibodies and common light chain antibodies, the latter being a critical component for building complex bispecific and multi-specific drugs that can engage multiple targets simultaneously. This technological arsenal provides a powerful toolkit for tackling diseases that have proven difficult to treat with traditional approaches.

A Strategic Alliance Forged in Innovation

For Daiichi Sankyo, this partnership is a calculated strategic move that aligns with its ambition to become a world leader in oncology by 2025. The company has already achieved massive success with its proprietary DXd Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) technology, exemplified by its blockbuster drug Enhertu. ADCs are a form of “smart bomb” therapy that delivers a potent cytotoxic payload directly to cancer cells. The collaboration with Leveragen provides a pathway to developing even more advanced ADCs.

The smaller, highly specific sdAbs generated by Leveragen’s platform are ideal candidates for creating next-generation ADCs with improved tumor penetration and potentially fewer side effects. This synergy between Leveragen’s discovery engine and Daiichi Sankyo’s development expertise represents a powerful combination in the highly competitive biologics market, which is projected to exceed $1 trillion globally by 2032.

The alliance also reflects a broader industry dynamic where large pharmaceutical firms increasingly look to external innovation. Partnering with an agile biotech like Leveragen allows Daiichi Sankyo to tap into state-of-the-art technology without the time and expense of developing it in-house. This model validates Leveragen's platform and provides it with the resources and expertise of a global pharmaceutical powerhouse, creating a symbiotic relationship geared toward future growth and market leadership.

Accelerating Hope for Intractable Diseases

Ultimately, the true promise of this collaboration lies in its potential to transform patient care. The ability to rapidly discover and develop novel, highly targeted antibodies could unlock new treatments for some of the most challenging medical conditions.

In oncology, Daiichi Sankyo’s primary focus, the impact could be profound. The enhanced tissue penetration of sdAbs is particularly crucial for treating solid tumors, which remain a major hurdle in cancer therapy. By improving the delivery of therapeutic agents deep into tumor microenvironments, these next-generation biologics could offer new hope for patients with breast, lung, gastric, and other cancers.

Perhaps the most groundbreaking potential lies in neurology. Many promising drugs for neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease fail because they cannot cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a protective membrane that shields the brain from foreign substances. The small size of Leveragen's sdAbs gives them a distinct advantage, enabling them to potentially traverse the BBB and deliver therapeutics directly to targets within the central nervous system. This capability could open a vital new front in the fight against a wide range of neurological disorders that currently have limited or no effective treatments.

By uniting Leveragen's innovative discovery engine with Daiichi Sankyo's clinical development prowess, this partnership is poised to do more than just advance science—it aims to shorten the long road from the laboratory bench to the patient bedside, accelerating the delivery of potentially life-saving medicines.