INTRODUCTION: Drug conjugates are trend topics in Chemical Biology. These entities are an emerging class of highly potent biopharmaceutical drugs, best known in the field of oncology, that have been also designed as a targeted therapy/diagnosis for the treatment/prevention of several bacterial diseases. Antibiotic resistance is now a major threat to public health, and targeted strategies can reduce resistance. The following review aims at giving an overview of the patented therapeutic innovations covering these areas. Particular attention has been given to antibacterial drug conjugates in the last 30 years. Areas covered: The authors provide an overview of the scientific reports describing the research and development of new drug conjugates for bacterial diseases. The review emphasizes the rationale behind synthesis, biological activities and improvement of the new drug conjugates. New technologies applied for the research in this field have also been discussed. The article is based on the most relevant literature related to the development of new therapeutic solutions. The patents presented in this review have been collected from multiple electronic databases including SciFinder, Pubmed, Espacenet and Mendeley. Expert opinion: The new drug conjugates described in the current review proved to display improved delivery, efficacy, targeting abilities and fewer side effects. Versatile approaches were invented to achieve these goals.