Midyear 2026 Check In: Campbell Bunce of Abzena Talks Antibody-Oligonucleotide Conjugates and Development Timelines

In an interview with PharmTech, Campbell Bunce, chief scientific officer at Abzena, discussed momentum in antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates (AOCs) and factors that will be shaping the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) industry strategy for the rest of 2026.

Advancements in AOC developments include the completed Novartis-Avidity transaction¹ and Dyne Therapeutics’ FDA-accepted biologics license application (BLA)² as signals of accelerating momentum in the AOC space. Both Avidity and Dyne are targeting Duchenne muscular dystrophy and related muscular dystrophies. Bunce noted Abzena is seeing a parallel rise in early-stage AOC development work internally, including client programs it has advanced in disease areas beyond muscular dystrophy—reinforcing his earlier prediction that AOC activity would strengthen through 2026.

Turning to industry priorities, Bunce emphasized that CDMOs face growing pressure to accommodate increasingly complex biologics—bispecifics, fusion proteins, and bioconjugates—within compressed development timelines. He linked this to venture capital funding loosening, and sponsors facing heightened urgency to generate safety and efficacy data quickly.

Contract organizations will need to invest in faster, high-throughput front-end design processes capable of reliably predicting molecule productivity early on, Bunce stressed. A structural shift in the fragmented manufacturing approach is necessary; traditionally, antibody or recombinant protein intermediates are produced separately from the conjugation step for antibody drug conjugates and AOCs. Bunce expects greater integration of these previously siloed activities—combining protein production and conjugation—to shorten overall development timelines. He noted this is a focus area for Abzena as it scales operations to meet rising demand, specifically in bioconjugate manufacturing.

Click the video above to watch the interview.

References

1. Novartis successfully completes acquisition of Avidity Biosciences, strengthening late-stage neuroscience pipeline and advancing xRNA strategy. Press release. Novartis. February 27, 2026. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://www.novartis.com/news/media-releases/novartis-successfully-completes-acquisition-avidity-biosciences-strengthening-late-stage-neuroscience-pipeline-and-advancing-xrna-strategy
2. Dyne Therapeutics announces U.S. FDA acceptance of biologics license application (BLA) for Z-Rostudirsen in Exon 51 Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Press release. Dyne. July 20, 2026. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://investors.dyne-tx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/dyne-therapeutics-announces-us-fda-acceptance-biologics-license