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Zymeworks Announces First Patient Dosed in Phase 1 Clinical Trial Evaluating ZW171 in Advanced Mesothelin-Expressing Cancers
Global Phase 1 clinical trial will evaluate the safety and tolerability of ZW171 in treatment of ovarian cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and other
About this update from Zymeworks Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Global Phase 1 clinical trial will evaluate the safety and tolerability of ZW171 in treatment of ovarian cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and other mesothelin (MSLN) expressing cancers VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zymeworks Inc. (Nasdaq: ZYME), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a diverse pipeline of novel, multifunctional biotherapeutics to improve the standard of care for difficult-to-treat diseases, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in the first-in-human Phase 1 trial (NCT06523803) to evaluate the safety and tolerability of the investigational therapy ZW171 in the treatment of advanced or metastatic ovarian cancer, NSCLC, and other MSLN-expressing cancers. MSLN has strong expression in a broad number of tumor indications, including ovarian cancer (~84%1), with moderate to strong expression in NSCLC (~36%1), making it an appealing target for therapeutic development with our proprietary T cell engager technology. In preclinical studies, ZW171 has demonstrated in vivo potent preferential killing of MSLN-overexpressing target cells and stimulation MSLN-dependent T cell activation, mitigating the risk of on-target-off tumor toxicity and peripheral T cell activation and cytokine release syndrome. Data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in 2023 demonstrated that ZW171 exhibits greater anti-tumor activity compared to benchmark in MSLN-expressing tumor models and is well tolerated in cynomolgus monkeys up to 30 mg/kg2. “We are very pleased to have initiated the clinical evaluation of ZW171 for the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer and NSCLC, where it has the potential to be a highly effective therapy with favorable tolerability based on our preclinical research results,” said Jeff Smith, M.D., FRCP, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Zymeworks. “Initiation of this trial marks a significant step forward in our effort to bring a potential new treatment to people living with difficult to treat cancers and highlights our goal to advance two therapeutic candidates, ZW171 and ZW191, into clinical studies in 2024.” The Phase 1 study is a two-part, open-label multi-center study that is expected to enroll approximately 160 adult patients with advanced MSLN-expressing cancers. Part 1 of the study will ...