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
IFF Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results11.2.2026 23:36:00 EET | Press release
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025. Full year 2025 Consolidated Summary: Management Commentary “IFF delivered a solid 2025 performance, meeting the full-year financial commitments we set at the start of the year, despite a challenging operating environment,” said Erik Fyrwald, CEO of IFF. “It was also a year of continued strategic progress. We invested in R&D, commercial capabilities, and capacity expansion to better serve customers, advance our innovation pipeline, and support future profitable growth.” “We also took steps to optimize our portfolio. Through several divestitures and the recent launch of a sale process for our Food Ingredients segment, we sharpened our strategic focus and improved our financial flexibility, allowing us to direct resources to our highest-value businesses.” “Looking ahead to 2026, we are continuing to serve our customers with leading innovation to grow
Grid Dynamics Accelerates AI Transformation Momentum11.2.2026 23:05:00 EET | Press release
Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: GDYN) (“Grid Dynamics”), a premier AI transformation partner for the Fortune 1000, today announced it has achieved Preferred Vendor status with one of the major hyperscale cloud providers. This milestone follows a strategic, exhaustive two-year vendor consolidation initiative by the hyperscaler that reduced its service provider ecosystem to a small group. This designation establishes the contractual framework for Grid Dynamics to significantly increase business with this hyperscaler, boosting Grid Dynamics’ joint solution development, co-selling, and go-to-market opportunities. As enterprises scale AI adoption, they rely on Grid Dynamics for complex, production-grade implementations, building scalable systems on top of foundation models and integrating them into core enterprise workflows. In practice, the bottleneck in enterprise AI adoption is not the models themselves but the surrounding engineering and foundational platform capabilities — integr
Altasciences Announces Chris Perkin Appointed Executive Chairman; Marie-Hélène Raigneau Appointed Chief Executive Officer11.2.2026 22:14:00 EET | Press release
Altasciences announced today that Chris Perkin has been appointed Executive Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors, effective Tuesday, February 24, 2026. Following a leadership transition that has been underway for the past 12 months, Marie-Hélène Raigneau, President of the company since April 2025, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, also effective Tuesday, February 24, 2026. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260211203073/en/ From left to right: Chris Perkin, Executive Chairman of the Board (Altasciences), and Marie-Hélène Raigneau, Chief Executive Officer (Altasciences). “Having worked alongside Marie-Hélène for over two decades, I am fully confident in her readiness to guide Altasciences forward with clarity and purpose,” said Chris. “I am happy to be stepping aside after 50 years in drug development, knowing that Altasciences is well-positioned for the future.” Chris joined Altasciences as CEO
Sodali & Co Hires BlackRock Investment Stewardship AI and Data Lead11.2.2026 21:20:00 EET | Press release
Sodali & Co, the leading global capital markets-centric stakeholder advisory firm, is pleased to announce that Brett Miller has joined the firm as Global Head of Data Analytics based in New York. Miller joins from BlackRock where he served as Head of Data Analytics for its Investment Stewardship team. In his new role, Miller will lead Sodali’s global AI and data analytics strategy and embed data-driven insight across the firm’s integrated Shareholder Services, Sustainability, and Strategic Communications offering to help support clients navigate the increasingly complex and interconnected governance, investor, and stakeholder landscape. Miller joins Sodali & Co. at a time when investors are rapidly leveraging data and AI to drive investment and voting decisions. He will lead the buildout of an advanced analytics and technology platform to give clients actionable insight into how their narrative is driving capital flow and voting behavior. These capabilities will empower clients to make
Egon Zehnder Opens Philadelphia Office to Support Leaders in the Region’s Fast-Growing Economy11.2.2026 19:44:00 EET | Press release
Egon Zehnder, the world’s premier leadership advisory and executive search firm, today announced the opening of its Philadelphia office, marking the firm’s 70th office globally and further expanding its footprint in the United States. The new location strengthens Egon Zehnder’s long-standing commitment to serving clients across the Mid-Atlantic region with an integrated, advisory-led approach to leadership. Located in the FMC Tower, the Philadelphia office will deliver Egon Zehnder’s full suite of leadership advisory services and executive search to the region, including CEO succession, board effectiveness, executive search, leadership assessments, executive development, culture and organizational transformation and team effectiveness. The office will be staffed by consultants who live and work in the community, pairing global insights with local business operating realities to advise clients. Ari Roitman will lead the Philadelphia office, bringing extensive experience across leadershi
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