With Lilly developing two broadly similar Nectin-4 antibody-drug conjugates, LY4052031 and LY4101174, it was likely that one would eventually be prioritised over the other, and that moment has now arrived. The casualty is LY4101174, an asset Lilly inherited through its acquisition of Emergence Therapeutics. The news wasn’t announced directly by the company; instead, it surfaced quietly on the Chinese trial registry, which lists LY4101174's study as terminated early “due to adjustments in development strategy”. The registry also notes that enrolment was halted at 143 patients, well short of the 490 originally planned, though that update hasn't been reflected on clinicaltrials.gov. On Monday Lilly updated its listing on the US registry, only to mark the trial as “active, not recruiting”, with no mention of the termination. For now, the reasons behind Lilly’s decision to shelve LY4101174 remain a matter of speculation, but this is a notable move given that the company shelled out an estimated $470m to acquire Emergence Therapeutics. One possible factor is that Lilly's other anti-Nectin-4 ADC, LY4052031, might be posting stronger data. That would be a somewhat surprising turn, however, given that LY4052031 had previously run into its own bumps along the way; Lilly had paused LY4052031's first-in-human trial, though it never disclosed why. Lilly's anti-Nectin-4 ADCsProjectTrial nameADC parametersStatusLY4052031Nexus-01DAR 8; linker GGFG (ex ImmunoGen); payload LSN3889710 (topo1i)Recruiting after 4mth suspension; primary completion May 2027LY4101174 (ex Emergence) ExceedDAR 8; linker maleimide-ß-glucuronide PSAR (ex Mablink); payload exatecan (topo1i)Study terminated in Apr 2026Source: OncologyPipeline.
With Lilly developing two broadly similar Nectin-4 antibody-drug conjugates, LY4052031 and LY4101174, it was likely that one would eventually be prioritised over the other, and that moment has now arrived. The casualty is LY4101174, an asset Lilly inherited through its acquisition of Emergence Therapeutics. The news wasn’t announced directly by the company; instead, it surfaced quietly on the Chinese trial registry, which lists LY4101174's study as terminated early “due to adjustments in development strategy”. The registry also notes that enrolment was halted at 143 patients, well short of the 490 originally planned, though that update hasn't been reflected on clinicaltrials.gov. On Monday Lilly updated its listing on the US registry, only to mark the trial as “active, not recruiting”, with no mention of the termination. For now, the reasons behind Lilly’s decision to shelve LY4101174 remain a matter of speculation, but this is a notable move given that the company shelled out an estimated $470m to acquire Emergence Therapeutics. One possible factor is that Lilly's other anti-Nectin-4 ADC, LY4052031, might be posting stronger data. That would be a somewhat surprising turn, however, given that LY4052031 had previously run into its own bumps along the way; Lilly had paused LY4052031's first-in-human trial, though it never disclosed why.
Lilly's anti-Nectin-4 ADCs
| Project | Trial name | ADC parameters | Status |
|---|
| LY4052031 | Nexus-01 | DAR 8; linker GGFG (ex ImmunoGen); payload LSN3889710 (topo1i) | Recruiting after 4mth suspension; primary completion May 2027 |
| LY4101174 (ex Emergence) | Exceed | DAR 8; linker maleimide-ß-glucuronide PSAR (ex Mablink); payload exatecan (topo1i) | Study terminated in Apr 2026 |
