Gilead Sciences and Nucleai partner to investigate ADC resistance in oncology

Gilead Sciences and Nucleai are collaborating to investigate why tumors that appear target-positive on pathology slides sometimes resist antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). While ADCs aim to deliver cytotoxic payloads directly to cancer cells to minimize toxicity, factors such as altered cell-surface targets, extracellular proteases, and drug-efflux pumps can impede their effectiveness. Nucleai is using computational analysis of clinical trial datasets to link tissue features with clinical outcomes.

In a separate development, researchers have introduced a computational pipeline designed to identify subtype-specific cell-surface targets for cervical cancer. By analyzing transcriptomic data from hundreds of primary tumors and thousands of healthy tissue samples, the study aims to address tumor heterogeneity—specifically the differences between squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma—to guide more precise ADC development.