India Pharma Outlook Team | Tuesday, 09 May 2023
Zion Pharma Limited, a Chinese biotechnology firm specialising in the creation of substances that may penetrate the brain, revealed today that Roche has purchased the worldwide rights to Zion's principal programme, ZN-A-1041. ZN-A-1041 is a Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2)-specific orally administered tyrosine kinase inhibitor. In patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, ZN-A-1041, a blood-brain barrier-penetrant drug, may be used to treat or delay the onset of brain metastases. Up to 50% of patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer will eventually experience brain metastases.
"Our agreement with Roche is the culmination of a tremendous team effort to deliver a potentially best-in-class therapy for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, particularly in the field of brain metastasis by virtue of the high blood-brain barrier permeability of this asset,” stated Zack Cheng, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Zion Pharma Limited. “Within five years, we have gone from company formation to first-in-human, to finding a partner in Roche, who has the resources and expertise to bring ZN-A-1041 to patients with few other therapeutic options,” Dr. Cheng continued. Dr. Ding Zhou, Ph.D., CSO and Co-Founder of Zion Pharma Limited added, “We are pleased that Roche recognizes the potential of our asset for advancing the standard of care with regards to brain penetrable compounds in HER2-positive breast cancer.”
“We are excited to enter this partnership with Zion to further develop this innovative treatment option for people with HER2-positive breast cancer. This partnership builds on Roche’s legacy and expertise in the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer and supports our pursuit of advancing science by combining external innovation with our in-house capabilities to address areas of high unmet patient needs,” said James Sabry, Global Head of Pharma Partnering.
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