Zion Pharma Announces Global Agreement with Roche to Develop and Commercialize a Blood Brain Barrier Penetrant Oral HER2 Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor
9.5.2023 09:00:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Zion Pharma Limited, a Chinese biotechnology company focused on the development of brain-penetrable compounds, today announced that Roche has acquired the global rights to Zion’s lead program, ZN-A-1041. ZN-A-1041 is an orally administered selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting the Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2). ZN-A-1041 was designed to be blood-brain-barrier-penetrant, and has the potential to treat or prevent the onset of brain metastases in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Up to 50% of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer will develop brain metastasis during the course of the disease.
"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.
After a transition period, Roche will be responsible for the further development, manufacturing, and commercialization of ZN-A-1041 globally. Zion will receive up to $70 million USD in upfront and near-term milestone payments pending achievement of certain milestone events. Zion will also be eligible for up to $610 million USD in additional payments following achievement of certain development, regulatory, and sales-based milestone events by ZN-A-1041, as well as tiered royalties on sales.
About ZN-A-1041
ZN-A-1041 is an orally administered selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting the Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2). ZN-A-1041 was designed to be blood-brain-barrier-penetrant. The ongoing Phase 1 trial is being conducted at multiple sites in the U.S. and China. Additional details will be presented at the poster sessions during the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in June 2023.
About Zion Pharma Limited
Zion Pharma is a private, clinical stage biotech company focused on the development of novel, small molecule, anti-tumoral agents. Founded in 2018, the company’s research headquarters are in Suzhou with additional research operations in Shanghai. The company is applying an innovative drug discovery approach, capitalizing on its DMPK expertise, to develop a pipeline of proprietary first-in-class/best-in-class compounds focused on therapeutic targets which drive tumor inhibition, including ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM), Kirsten RAt Sarcoma (KRAS G12D) and SMARCA2 (BRM). Additional information about Zion Pharma is available at www.zionpharma.com.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230508005468/en/
Contact information
For media and partnership inquiries:
J. Michael French
SVP, Corporate Development
michael.french@zionpharma.com
+1.703.338.1972
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Santander Financial Crime Transformation Leader Joins ThetaRay to Drive Enterprise AI Adoption7.7.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
ThetaRay, a leader in AI infrastructure for financial crime compliance, today announced the appointment of Luis Pinedo as Chief Strategic Customers Officer. Previously Pinedo was Group VP of Compliance at Santander Bank, where during his 16-year tenure, he led global Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) transformation initiatives across operating models, processes, and technology platforms. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260707359150/en/ Luis Pinedo joins ThetaRay as Chief Strategic Customers Officer. In his new role, Pinedo will bring key perspectives from tier-one banking operational challenges to ThetaRay’s product development and design. He will lead strategic customer engagement as well as product strategy across ThetaRay’s entire compliance platform, including Transaction Monitoring, Screening, Customer Risk Assessment, and Agentic Investigations. The appointment comes at a critical time in the RegTech indu
Robbyant Unveils LingBot-Depth 2.0 and LingBot-Vision to Redefine Robotic Spatial Perception7.7.2026 10:54:00 EEST | Press release
Robbyant, an embodied AI company within Ant Group, today announced the launch of LingBot-Depth 2.0, a next-generation spatial perception model, alongside its foundational visual model, LingBot-Vision. This release marks a significant leap in robotic spatial perception, empowering robots to accurately understand and navigate the physical world. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260706806935/en/ LingBot-Depth 2.0 reconstructs complete and planar 3D structures in challenging scenarios involving mirrors and glass From "Seeing" to "Seeing Accurately" Building upon the success of LingBot-Depth, which pioneered the Masked Depth Modeling (MDM) technique to resolve depth sensing challenges for transparent and reflective surfaces, LingBot-Depth 2.0 represents a massive scale-up in training data and performance. Trained on 150 million samples, the new model achieves top rankings in 12 out of 16 depth completion benchmarks.
RGI Group Strengthens Its Personal Insurance Capabilities in France Through KAPIA-RGI’s Acquisition of Cegid Assurex Solutions7.7.2026 10:30:00 EEST | Press release
RGI, a leading European provider of digital insurance platforms, announces that KAPIA-RGI, its France-based company specialised in personal insurance solutions, has acquired Cegid Assurex solutions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260707323665/en/ This transaction marks a major milestone in the Group's development strategy in French speaking markets in Europe and further enhances its ability to support insurers, mutual insurers, provident institutions, brokers and bancassurers in their innovation and digital transformation initiatives. By integrating Cegid Assurex's expertise, talent and solutions, KAPIA-RGI consolidates its position as the reference leader in the Life Insurance, Savings, Retirement, Annuities and Provident markets. This acquisition expands its client base with more than 20 additional customers while accelerating innovation and growth in a market shaped by evolving regulation, automation and a
Bitcoin Suisse Advances Middle East Expansion, Receiving Financial Services Permission in Abu Dhabi7.7.2026 10:15:00 EEST | Press release
Building on its position as Switzerland’s leading crypto financial services provider, Bitcoin Suisse is further accelerating its international expansion. Bitcoin Suisse Group’s subsidiary, BTCS (Middle East) Ltd. (“BTCS ME”) has received Financial Services Permission (FSP) from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM, the international financial centre of Abu Dhabi, marking another significant step toward the Group’s international growth strategy becoming a leading global wealth management partner. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260707864200/en/ Ceyda Majcen, Chief Executive Officer and SEO of BTCS ME, leads Bitcoin Suisse Group's expansion in the Middle East and brings extensive, long-standing senior leadership experience across the Group. The FSP marks the completion of a thorough, multi-stage licensing process and enables BTCS ME to deliver a comprehensive suite of regulated digital asse
Alpaca Completes EEA Passporting to 29 Countries, Expanding Access to Regulated Investment Services Across Europe7.7.2026 10:00:00 EEST | Press release
Alpaca, a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs, today announced that it has completed the process to passport its regulated and localized investment services across 29 countries in the EEA (European Economic Area) through its Spain-based EEA hub. The completion of EEA passporting enables Alpaca to extend the regulatory foundation established through its European entity, which is authorized and registered with Spain’s Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), across the EEA under the MiFID II framework. Together with Alpaca’s regulated UK entity, this milestone strengthens Alpaca’s ability to support fintechs, financial institutions, and enterprise partners building regulated investment products across Europe, reaching a market of nearly 500 million people. The passported countries include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom