Zymeworks licenses experimental lung cancer drug to Roche in up to $813 million deal

Oct 23 — Zymeworks said on Friday Roche has ​gained rights to develop and commercialize its experimental lung cancer drug under ‌a global licensing deal worth up to $813 million.

• Zymeworks ⁠will receive $55 million ​upfront and an additional $40 ⁠million when the Swiss drugmaker begins ‌a planned dose-optimization ‌study of the drug ZW209

• Roche ⁠will take over ⁠the development of the treatment after Zymeworks completes the dose-escalation portion of an ongoing early-stage study

• The company said the drug targets DLL3, a protein commonly found ‌on small-cell lung cancer ​cells but rarely seen in healthy tissue

• Roche has agreed to partner on ZW209 before efficacy data were available because of "the innovation and differentiation in our trispecific T-cell engager platform," Zymeworks CEO Kenneth ​Galbraith told Reuters

• The first patient ‌is expected to ‌be ⁠enrolled before the end of 2026, Galbraith said

• The company said it could receive up to $718 million in development, regulatory and ‌commercial milestone payments, ​in addition to tiered ‌royalties on ⁠future sales

(Reporting ​by Sahil Pandey in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi ​Majumdar)

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