ADC Therapeutics (NYSE:ADCT) outlined a 2025 strategy centered on expanding ZYNLONTA while significantly reducing costs, and management pointed investors to multiple clinical and regulatory catalysts expected in 2026 and 2027.
Strategy refocused on ZYNLONTA with a lower cost base
Chief Executive Officer Ameet Mallik said the company has implemented a plan to focus on ZYNLONTA “with optimized lifecycle management,” including the Phase III LOTIS-5 study, the bispecific combination study LOTIS-7, and investigator-initiated trials (IITs) in indolent lymphomas. Mallik said ADC Therapeutics reduced its operating cost structure by approximately 50% as part of this focus and restructuring, while refining its go-to-market model to maintain a sustained position for ZYNLONTA in third-line-plus diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) despite the entry of bispecific therapies.
Commercial update: Q4 rebound, full-year revenue roughly stable
Management said ZYNLONTA maintained its place in the third-line-plus DLBCL setting. Mallik noted that after an unusually low third quarter, fourth-quarter performance was strong. Net product revenue in Q4 2025 was $22.3 million, which he attributed primarily to variability in customer ordering patterns and activation of some new accounts.
For the full year, ADC Therapeutics reported net product revenues of $73.6 million, which management characterized as roughly stable and in line with expectations for the current third-line-plus setting. In the Q&A, Mallik said the company expects sales in 2026 to remain broadly in line with recent years and reiterated that the “real inflection point” is expected to come with a potential LOTIS-5 approval.
Clinical program: LOTIS-5 and LOTIS-7 positioned for key readouts
Management emphasized expansion into second-line-plus DLBCL as the primary growth opportunity. Mallik said the company expects to share LOTIS-5 top-line data in the second quarter of 2026. In response to an analyst question about timing and content, management said it was confident in the Q2 timeframe and expects to hit the required progression-free survival (PFS) events. The company plans to report the primary endpoint (PFS), along with secondary endpoints that are mature at the time of the analysis and key safety tables, while aiming to publish full results by year-end 2026.
For LOTIS-5, Mallik referenced earlier safety lead-in data showing an overall response rate of 80% and a complete response rate of 50%, with no new safety signals, supporting the potential for a broadly accessible regimen combining ZYNLONTA with rituximab.
In LOTIS-7, ADC Therapeutics has expanded target enrollment to approximately 100 patients at the selected dose level. Management discussed updated safety and efficacy data presented in December on 49 efficacy-evaluable patients, citing a 90% best overall response rate and a 78% complete response rate with a minimum of six months follow-up. Mallik said the company believes the regimen continues to be generally well tolerated with a manageable safety profile and could be best-in-class among bispecific combinations if the data remain compelling.
Indolent lymphoma IITs: early signals and expected publications
Mallik said encouraging Phase II data were shared in 2025 from multicenter IITs studying ZYNLONTA plus rituximab in relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma and ZYNLONTA monotherapy in relapsed or refractory marginal zone lymphoma. The company anticipates publication of data across these IITs between the end of 2026 and mid-2027, and CFO Jose Carmona said ADC Therapeutics plans to assess regulatory and compendia strategies once sufficient data are available.
Financial results: lower losses, declining expense outlook, and runway into 2028
Chief Financial Officer Jose Carmona reported that Q4 2025 net product revenues were $22.3 million, compared with $16.4 million in Q4 2024. For the full year, net product revenues were $73.6 million versus $69.3 million in 2024, with underlying volume broadly flat.
Total operating expenses were $41.0 million in Q4 and $202.9 million for the full year. On a non-GAAP basis, adjusted operating expenses were $39.4 million for the quarter and $181.3 million for the year, down 15% and 6% from the prior year periods, respectively. Carmona said the quarterly reduction was primarily driven by lower R&D expense, while the full-year decrease was “across all major lines of the income statement.” In the Q&A, Carmona said R&D expenses are expected to fluctuate quarter to quarter but generally trend down through 2026 and 2027 as LOTIS-5 winds down and LOTIS-7 peaks and then declines, assuming the current trial count and pipeline remain unchanged.
On a GAAP basis, ADC Therapeutics reported a Q4 net loss of $6.4 million, or $0.04 per basic and diluted share, compared with a net loss of $30.7 million, or $0.29 per share, in Q4 2024. For the full year, the net loss was $142.6 million, or $1.12 per share, compared with $157.8 million, or $1.62 per share, in 2024. Carmona attributed the lower net loss primarily to a higher cumulative catch-up adjustment gain tied to the deferred royalty obligation and reduced R&D spending, partially offset by restructuring impairment and related costs.
ADC Therapeutics ended 2025 with $261.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, up from $250.9 million at the end of 2024. Carmona said the company strengthened its balance sheet through a $100 million PIPE financing in June 2025 and a $60 million PIPE financing in October 2025, supporting an expected cash runway at least into 2028.
Looking ahead, Carmona laid out anticipated milestones:
- LOTIS-5: top-line data in Q2 2026; full results publication targeted by year-end 2026; if positive, a supplemental BLA submission with potential publication and compendia inclusion in the first half of 2027; confirmatory approval potentially in mid-2027.
- LOTIS-7: next update with full data at a medical meeting and through publication by the end of 2026; if positive, pursue compendia inclusion and assess a regulatory strategy.
- Indolent lymphoma IITs: additional data expected at medical conferences between the end of 2026 and mid-2027; regulatory and compendia strategies to be evaluated once more data are available.
In closing remarks, Mallik said the company believes it has “laid the foundation for multiple anticipated value-creating catalysts ahead,” and reiterated confidence that the strengthened cash runway supports execution as it prepares for potential growth beginning in 2027.
About ADC Therapeutics (NYSE:ADCT)
ADC Therapeutics SA is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of highly targeted antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) designed to treat hematological malignancies such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma and acute myeloid leukemia. By marrying the specificity of monoclonal antibodies with potent cytotoxic payloads, the company aims to maximize tumor cell eradication while limiting off-target toxicity.
At the core of ADC Therapeutics’ portfolio is loncastuximab tesirine-lpyl, a CD19-directed ADC that received accelerated approval from the U.S.
