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
Vultr Expands European Footprint with 33rd Cloud Data Center Region in Milan, Italy19.5.2026 18:28:00 EEST | Press release
Vultr, the world’s largest privately-held cloud infrastructure company, today announces the launch of its 33rd global cloud data center region in Milan, coinciding with AI Week 2026 at Fiera Milano Rho, where over 700 international speakers will gather for Europe's largest AI event. Vultr is a platinum sponsor and is also co-hosting the AI Agent Olympics Hackathon with over 1,000 participants. Milan becomes Vultr's ninth European cloud data center region, joining Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Manchester, Paris, Stockholm, and Warsaw. This launch represents the company's latest expansion of a global network reaching 90% of the world's population within 2–40 milliseconds. Vultr’s cloud data center location will be delivering Vultr’s full-stack AI infrastructure, including Vultr’s flagship cloud compute offering, VX1, in addition to Vultr’s full range of bare metal and cloud GPU offerings from NVIDIA and AMD. The region will serve enterprises and developers running demanding workl
Global Millennial Capital Closes USD 100 Million IPO Opportunities Fund Focused on AI, Decentralized Financial Infrastructure, and Climate Technologies19.5.2026 18:16:00 EEST | Press release
Global Millennial Capital Ltd. (“GMCL”) today announced the final closing of its inaugural IPO Opportunities Fund at USD 100 million. Raised through a private placement with institutional and professional investors, the fund targets late-stage and special opportunities investments across mid-cap technology companies operating in high-growth sectors, including artificial intelligence, decentralized finance infrastructure, cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, enterprise software, and climate technologies. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260519513523/en/ Global Millennial Capital announces the successful final close of its USD 100 million IPO Opportunities Fund, reinforcing its commitment to investing in high-growth technology companies across artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, and next-generation financial systems. The fund is designed to capitalize on the increasing number of tech
Miro Takes Aim at the Gap Between AI Potential and Organizational Reality19.5.2026 17:00:00 EEST | Press release
Miro®, the AI Innovation Workspace for teams, has announced new innovations across its AI platform, reinforcing its position as the collaboration layer where people, context, and agents from every function converge to solve hard problems, make better decisions, and build the right thing faster. Major upgrades to Miro’s agentic AI tools — including Sidekicks and Flows — alongside new Connectors, help customers close the gap between individual AI productivity and organization-wide transformation. AI is reshaping the pace of work, but often teams are not realising the benefits. In many organizations, a gap has emerged between what individuals can now do and what companies can harness. The reason? Collaboration has fractured. Teams have moved from one mode of working to three — human to human, human to agent, and agent to agent — but these are running in silos, invisible to each other. Within those silos, AI amplifies misalignment rather than correcting it, and the gaps only show up when t
Andersen Global Strengthens Global Mobility Capabilities with Collaborating Firm Graebel19.5.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
Andersen Global continues to enhance its multi-dimensional platform through a Collaboration Agreement with Graebel, a global leader in workforce mobility and managed services headquartered in the U.S. with global capabilities spanning the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Founded in 1950, Graebel works with many of the world’s most recognized organizations to simplify the movement and management of talent. The company helps organizations support employees throughout the workforce journey—from internships and onboarding to domestic and international mobility and career transitions—through services that span strategic planning, departure and destination support, on-assignment assistance, repatriation, and mobility program design. Through strategic advisory and intelligent technology, Graebel enables organizations to make more informed decisions and align talent mobility with broader business and workforce strategies through data-driven insights and deep mobility and governance expertise. “Our
Wolters Kluwer Medi-Span Selected to Provide Personalized Medication Decision Support at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust19.5.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
Wolters Kluwer Health has implemented its industry-leading medication decision support (MDS) solution, Medi-Span®, at the world-renowned specialist oncology center, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. “The Christie is recognized globally for its excellence and commitment to delivering exceptional patient care,” says Israel Armstrong, Vice President for Medi-Span International at Wolters Kluwer Health. “We’re proud that our first Medi-Span implementation in the NHS should be with such a prestigious institution. We look forward to more collaborations that help streamline processes further and help clinical teams make the most highly informed decisions.” The Christie is a leading expert in cancer care, research and education and is the largest single-site cancer center in Europe. The Christie treats more than 60,000 patients a year and is the first facility in the UK to be accredited as a comprehensive cancer center. Based in Manchester, they serve a population of 3.2 million people across
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