Shilpa's Dharwad Plant Joins Elite ADC Club

Shilpa Biologicals has commissioned a fully integrated ADC manufacturing plant in Dharwad, built to FDA and EMA standards

1 Jul 2026

India's biopharma industry picked up a rare new tool late last month. Shilpa Biologicals commissioned a fully integrated antibody-drug conjugate manufacturing facility in Dharwad, and it went live on June 26, 2026.

The scope of the plant is what makes it stand out. Payload synthesis, linker development, monoclonal antibody production, conjugation, and purification all happen under one roof. That kind of integration is rare in India, and it puts Shilpa among a small handful of companies worldwide capable of handling every stage of ADC production in-house. GMP qualification work is underway now, with the facility built from the ground up to meet FDA and EMA expectations.

Antibody-drug conjugates sit at the center of some of oncology's most closely watched research. Yet end-to-end manufacturing for these compounds has stayed scarce across Asia Pacific, largely because the process demands handling highly potent biological materials safely at scale. Shilpa Biologicals, part of the Shilpa Medicare group, closes much of that gap by putting every critical step in one location. Few facilities in the region can match that.

Sridevi Khambhampaty, the company's CEO, called the launch a turning point for the wider group. "The manufacturing of highly potent compounds has been a core pillar of Shilpa's identity and this ADC drug substance facility adds a new sophisticated dimension to the capabilities of the Shilpa group," she said. Her comment suggests leadership sees Dharwad less as a single asset and more as a springboard for both contract work and the company's own drug pipeline.

Global pharma companies hunting for dependable ADC manufacturing outside Western hubs now have a serious contender to consider. Patients stand to gain too, since more regional capacity often means faster clinical timelines and fewer supply bottlenecks that have slowed Asian biopharma for years. GMP qualification is moving forward, and with international standards already built into the design, Shilpa Biologicals looks positioned to draw global partners and push India further up the biomanufacturing map.