Recently, biotechnology company Mythic Therapeutics announced the termination of all its operations due to failed financing, and the clinical trial of its only investigational ADC drug, MYTX-011, was also aborted.

The founding of Mythic Therapeutics stemmed from a forward-thinking technological narrative. While traditional ADC technology focused on three key innovation dimensions—connector coupling technology and novel targets—its founder, Brian Fiske, aspired to open a fourth dimension : regulating the fate of ADCs within cells .

to broaden the therapeutic window of ADCs without relying on novel payloads or linkers by precisely improving the internalization of ADCs in target tissues while reducing non-specific release in healthy tissues .

nine top investment institutions, including Viking Global, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, Foresite Capital, and Perceptive Advisors, during the 2021 biotech funding boom, raising over $100 million .

The company quickly invested resources in a series of new ADC projects based on the platform, with MYTX-011, an ADC drug targeting c-MET , becoming its leader.

This drug is designed to enhance c-MET-dependent uptake by targeting c-MET antibodies, aiming to cover multiple tumor types with different c-MET expression levels. Its most advanced clinical indication is non- small cell lung cancer .

However, the brilliant technical story proved fragile in the face of harsh clinical and commercial realities, and Mythic recently declared bankruptcy.

Mythic's collapse is not an isolated case. In April 2025, another ADC company, Vincerx Pharma, also entered liquidation after two failed acquisitions. Its $3.9 million in bank accounts was depleted by the end of the second quarter, forcing the halt of three products in Phase I clinical trials.

In recent years, ADCs have become the most popular direction in cancer drug development due to their unique advantage of precisely targeting tumor cells, giving rise to several multi-billion dollar mergers and acquisitions.

a copy-and-paste pattern when developing ADCs , defaulting to using the linker-toxin combination of already approved drugs, hoping to conquer all types of tumors simply by changing the antibody without altering the structure.

ADC development is far more complex than imagined . Even having a reliable target, a mature antibody platform, and a standard ADC structural template does not guarantee success. While Mythic attempted to address the internalization efficiency issue through its FateControl™ platform, this difference failed to convince cautious investors in the absence of head-to-head advantage data.

Data shows that by 2025, 16 biotech companies had shut down and 3 were on the verge of collapse. The fall of Mythic once again confirms a harsh reality: in a capital winter and a red ocean market, a business model based solely on technology and a story is already fragile .

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