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Zymeworks and ALX Oncology Announce First Patient Dosed in Phase 1b/2 Clinical Trial of Zanidatamab and Evorpacept (ALX148) in Patients with Advanced HER2-Expressing Breast Cancer and Other Solid Tumors
VANCOUVER, British Columbia & SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Zymeworks Inc. (NYSE: ZYME), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
About this update from Zymeworks Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":" VANCOUVER, British Columbia & SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nZymeworks Inc. (NYSE: ZYME), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing multifunctional biotherapeutics, and ALX Oncology Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXO), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing therapies that block the CD47 checkpoint pathway, today announced the first patient has been dosed in an open-label, multi-center Phase 1b/2 clinical trial conducted by Zymeworks.\nThis press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211005005450/en/\nThe trial is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of zanidatamab, Zymeworks’ lead HER2‑targeted bispecific antibody, in combination with evorpacept (ALX148), ALX’s CD47 blocker, in patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, HER2-low breast cancer and additional non-breast HER2-expressing solid tumors.\n\nThis collaboration builds on the promising antitumor activity observed in clinical trials of evorpacept combined with a HER2-targeted antibody in patients with advanced HER2‑positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer. The addition of CD47 blockade is designed to enhance zanidatamab’s immunotherapeutic effects and has the potential to provide benefit to a broad population of patients, including those with advanced HER2‑expressing breast cancer and potentially other HER2‑expressing cancers.\n\nAbout the Zanidatamab-Evorpacept Combination\n\nZanidatamab is designed to have multiple mechanisms of action, including immune clearance of HER2‑expressing tumor cells by macrophages through antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP). CD47 is a “don’t eat me” signal that acts as a checkpoint inhibitor to macrophages. Cancer cells that express CD47 are resistant to immune clearance even when targeted with therapeutic antibodies. Treatment with zanidatamab plus evorpacept has the potential to increase the immune clearance of HER2-expressing cancer cells by combining a biparatopic antibody capable of binding at higher density than monospecific antibodies with a molecule that blocks CD47 on the same targeted cancer cells.\n\nAbout Zanidatamab\n\nZanidatamab is a bispecific antibody, based on Zymeworks’ Azymetric™ platform, that can simultaneously bind two non-overlapping epitopes of HER2, known as biparatopic binding. Zani...