Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are emerging as a critical segment within the global drug development pipeline, with Indian CDMO companies positioning themselves strategically across different value chains. According to reports from The Financial Express, Piramal Pharma, Anthem Biosciences and Cohance Lifesciences are among the listed Indian companies with disclosed ADC-related capabilities, each taking distinct approaches to capture this high-margin opportunity. The CRDMO segment typically carries materially higher margins than other pharma activities, with Jefferies reporting 19% YoY revenue growth in Q1 FY27 across nine CRDMO companies, while aggregate EBITDA grew 36%. Recent developments highlight the competitive landscape, with Andera Partners investing in Tupolis, a Munich-based ADC company, demonstrating continued institutional interest in the sector despite unclear early science, betting on strong teams and broad networks.
Piramal Pharma is building a comprehensive ADC manufacturing platform spanning payload-linker manufacturing, conjugation, and sterile drug-product manufacturing. As reported by The Financial Express, the company's ADCelerate platform includes conjugation at Grangemouth in the UK, with commercial-scale payload-linker development and manufacturing at Riverview in Michigan. The $90 million expansion programme includes Riverview and Lexington projects, with management indicating that existing payload-linker capacity was effectively sold out and additional room required less than $5 million investment. The company acquired an additional 40.67% stake in Yapan Bio for ₹76.09 crore, bringing total holding to 74% and adding biologics capabilities.
Anthem Biosciences approaches ADCs from within its established CRDMO business model, maintaining more than 100 early-stage programmes and 10 late-phase molecules, with ADC molecules included among the late-stage programmes. According to The Financial Express, the company has 80%+ order-book visibility against FY27 target CRDMO sales and maintains that 60% of execution requirements are already covered by its order book. Management indicated that some programmes can take 18-24 months to reach commercialisation, with a new Big Pharma customer relationship expected to contribute meaningful business later through R&D and supply-chain diversification initiatives. Recent market dynamics show that Anthem maintains the highest EBITDA margin at 39.6% compared to Piramal's 12.5% consolidated margin and Cohance's 2.2% adjusted margin, with Anthem's market capitalisation standing at ₹50,380 crore and a P/E ratio of 87.68x.
Cohance Lifesciences is taking a more specialized route, focusing on payloads, tailored linkers, bioconjugation and drug-product manufacturing. As reported by The Financial Express, the company's payload programme includes MMAE and Exatecan, with management reporting customer interest from companies seeking alternatives to Chinese suppliers. The company has completed GMP bioconjugation batches and delivered an end-to-end ADC product for a clinical-stage programme, with the next ADC-specific programme milestone scheduled for Q2 FY27. Management expects Q2 to improve and YoY growth to return in H2 FY27 for the broader CDMO business. Recent global developments highlight the competitive pressure, with Andera Partners noting that the Chinese machinery for generating innovation is real and fast, particularly in the ADC space where the sheer volume and diversity of payloads, linkers, and bispecific combinations emerging from China is staggering.
The three companies show markedly different financial profiles and market valuations. According to The Financial Express, Piramal Pharma reported Q1 FY27 revenue of ₹2,269.92 crore with 17% YoY growth, while Anthem Biosciences generated ₹418.22 crore revenue with -22.6% YoY decline. Cohance Lifesciences recorded ₹422.26 crore revenue with -23.1% YoY decline. Anthem maintains the highest EBITDA margin at 39.6% compared to Piramal's 12.5% consolidated margin and Cohance's 2.2% adjusted margin. Anthem's market capitalisation stands at ₹50,380 crore with a P/E ratio of 87.68x, while Piramal trades at ₹215.20 with negative P/E due to losses. Recent market analysis suggests that AI is now table stakes — every credible company must be able to articulate where and how it applies AI across its development pipeline, though Andera Partners draws a sharp distinction between AI's proven value in discrete process steps and its unproven ability to predict biology's messy reality.
