Can Better ADC Engineering Unlock Solid Tumors?

Solve Therapeutics raises $120M with backing from MSD and others, betting that smarter ADC design can finally unlock solid tumors

9 Feb 2026

Solve Therapeutics has raised $120mn in new financing, as investors increase their focus on improved design of antibody drug conjugates in an effort to make the cancer drugs work better against solid tumours.

The funding round, led by Yosemite with participation from strategic investors including MSD, known in the US as Merck & Co., will support two clinical-stage oncology programmes and further development of Solve’s CloakLink™ platform. The company says the technology is intended to keep toxic payloads stable in the bloodstream and release them only once inside tumour cells.

ADCs combine antibodies with highly potent cancer drugs, aiming to deliver treatment directly to malignant cells while limiting damage to healthy tissue. Although several ADCs have shown success in blood cancers, progress in solid tumours has been slower, constrained by side effects, unstable delivery and narrow safety margins.

Investors and drugmakers are increasingly viewing those limits as engineering problems rather than failures of the underlying concept. Solve’s approach focuses on redesigning the molecular “linker” that binds the antibody to the drug, an area that has drawn growing attention across the industry.

“This investment allows us to push forward a new generation of ADCs designed for better safety and effectiveness,” said Chris Scott, Solve’s chief executive. He said the company believed improved design could allow higher doses to reach tumours while reducing harm to healthy tissue.

MSD’s involvement gives the financing strategic significance without making the group a controlling shareholder. Large pharmaceutical companies have stepped up minority investments in smaller biotechs as a way to track emerging technologies that could later strengthen their drug pipelines.

The deal comes as venture funding for biotechnology remains cautious overall, but continues to favour companies addressing well-known development bottlenecks with clear technical solutions. ADCs, once seen as a niche modality, are now among the most active areas of oncology dealmaking.

Solve still faces the usual risks of drug development, including high costs, competition from larger rivals and close regulatory scrutiny. Whether improved ADC design translates into better clinical outcomes in solid tumours remains to be proven. But the size and backing of the financing suggest investors see engineering-led innovation as one of the more credible paths forward in cancer drug development.