– Exclusive worldwide license agreement for preclinical ROR1 ADC, on track to submit IND in 1Q 2025 –
– Proprietary ADC platform enhances Immunome’s development of next-generation ADC programs –
– Zentalis to receive up-front payment of $35 million in cash and Immunome common stock and is eligible to receive up to $275 million of milestone payments and mid-to-high single-digit royalties –
BOTHELL, WA & SAN DIEGO, CA & NEW YORK, NY, USA I January 08, 2024 I Immunome, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMNM) and Zentalis® Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZNTL), today announced that they have entered into an exclusive, worldwide license agreement under which Immunome has licensed from Zentalis ZPC-21, a preclinical ROR1 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) with best-in-class potential on track for IND submission in 1Q 2025, and Zentalis’ proprietary ADC platform technology.
“This agreement strengthens Immunome’s pipeline while expanding our ADC toolbox,” said Clay B. Siegall, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Immunome. “ZPC-21’s preclinical activity across multiple models suggest best-in-class potential against ROR1, a clinically validated target that is relevant to both solid tumors and hematological malignancies. We intend to efficiently advance ZPC-21 through IND and into clinical development.”
Dr. Siegall continued: “The next generation of transformative ADCs will be built through combining rigorously selected targets with innovative linker-payload platforms. We believe that the linker-payload technology that underlies ZPC-21 may compare favorably to the platforms of successful ADC franchises—a testament to Zentalis’ deep understanding of medicinal chemistry and cancer biology. Immunome will now evaluate and advance Zentalis’ platform technology in the context of our multiple discovery-stage ADC programs against undisclosed targets.”
Under the terms of the deal, Zentalis will receive an up-front payment of $35 million in cash and Immunome common stock. Zentalis will be eligible to receive up to $275 million of milestone payments for ZPC-21 and the platform technology in addition to mid-to-high single-digit royalties.
“Immunome’s leadership team’s track record of advancing paradigm-changing ADCs, along with Zentalis’ commitment to apply cutting-edge medicinal chemistry to anti-cancer agents, makes Immunome the ideal partner to advance our ADC platform,” said Cam Gallagher, President of Zentalis. “This transaction realizes immediate value for our shareholders while enabling the Zentalis team to focus on advancing azenosertib, our oral WEE1 inhibitor with first-in-class and best-in-class potential, through multiple ongoing clinical studies in tumor types with high unmet need.”
Leerink Partners is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Zentalis
About Immunome, Inc.
Immunome is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing first-in-class and best-in-class targeted cancer therapies. Our portfolio pursues each target with a modality appropriate to its biology, including immunotherapies, targeted effectors, radioligand therapies and ADCs. We believe that pursuing underexplored targets with appropriate drug modalities leads to transformative therapies. Our proprietary memory B cell hybridoma technology allows for the rapid screening and functional characterization of novel antibodies and targets.
For more information, visit www.immunome.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Zentalis® Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing clinically differentiated small molecule therapeutics targeting fundamental biological pathways of cancers. The Company’s lead product candidate, azenosertib (ZN-c3), is a potentially first-in-class and best-in-class WEE1 inhibitor for advanced solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Azenosertib is being evaluated as a monotherapy and in combination across multiple clinical trials and has broad franchise potential. In clinical trials, azenosertib has been well tolerated and has demonstrated anti-tumor activity as a single agent across multiple tumor types and in combination with several chemotherapy backbones. As part of its azenosertib clinical development program, the Company is exploring enrichment strategies targeting tumors of high genomic instability, such as Cyclin E1 positive tumors and homologous recombination deficient tumors. The Company is also leveraging its extensive experience and capabilities across cancer biology and medicinal chemistry to advance its research on protein degraders. Zentalis has operations in both New York and San Diego.
For more information, please visit www.zentalis.com. Follow Zentalis on X/Twitter at @ZentalisP and on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/zentalis-pharmaceuticals.
SOURCE: Zentalis Pharmaceuticals
Post Views: 568
– Exclusive worldwide license agreement for preclinical ROR1 ADC, on track to submit IND in 1Q 2025 –
– Proprietary ADC platform enhances Immunome’s development of next-generation ADC programs –
– Zentalis to receive up-front payment of $35 million in cash and Immunome common stock and is eligible to receive up to $275 million of milestone payments and mid-to-high single-digit royalties –
BOTHELL, WA & SAN DIEGO, CA & NEW YORK, NY, USA I January 08, 2024 I Immunome, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMNM) and Zentalis® Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZNTL), today announced that they have entered into an exclusive, worldwide license agreement under which Immunome has licensed from Zentalis ZPC-21, a preclinical ROR1 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) with best-in-class potential on track for IND submission in 1Q 2025, and Zentalis’ proprietary ADC platform technology.
“This agreement strengthens Immunome’s pipeline while expanding our ADC toolbox,” said Clay B. Siegall, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Immunome. “ZPC-21’s preclinical activity across multiple models suggest best-in-class potential against ROR1, a clinically validated target that is relevant to both solid tumors and hematological malignancies. We intend to efficiently advance ZPC-21 through IND and into clinical development.”
Dr. Siegall continued: “The next generation of transformative ADCs will be built through combining rigorously selected targets with innovative linker-payload platforms. We believe that the linker-payload technology that underlies ZPC-21 may compare favorably to the platforms of successful ADC franchises—a testament to Zentalis’ deep understanding of medicinal chemistry and cancer biology. Immunome will now evaluate and advance Zentalis’ platform technology in the context of our multiple discovery-stage ADC programs against undisclosed targets.”
Under the terms of the deal, Zentalis will receive an up-front payment of $35 million in cash and Immunome common stock. Zentalis will be eligible to receive up to $275 million of milestone payments for ZPC-21 and the platform technology in addition to mid-to-high single-digit royalties.
“Immunome’s leadership team’s track record of advancing paradigm-changing ADCs, along with Zentalis’ commitment to apply cutting-edge medicinal chemistry to anti-cancer agents, makes Immunome the ideal partner to advance our ADC platform,” said Cam Gallagher, President of Zentalis. “This transaction realizes immediate value for our shareholders while enabling the Zentalis team to focus on advancing azenosertib, our oral WEE1 inhibitor with first-in-class and best-in-class potential, through multiple ongoing clinical studies in tumor types with high unmet need.”
Leerink Partners is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Zentalis
About Immunome, Inc.
Immunome is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing first-in-class and best-in-class targeted cancer therapies. Our portfolio pursues each target with a modality appropriate to its biology, including immunotherapies, targeted effectors, radioligand therapies and ADCs. We believe that pursuing underexplored targets with appropriate drug modalities leads to transformative therapies. Our proprietary memory B cell hybridoma technology allows for the rapid screening and functional characterization of novel antibodies and targets.
For more information, visit www.immunome.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Zentalis® Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing clinically differentiated small molecule therapeutics targeting fundamental biological pathways of cancers. The Company’s lead product candidate, azenosertib (ZN-c3), is a potentially first-in-class and best-in-class WEE1 inhibitor for advanced solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Azenosertib is being evaluated as a monotherapy and in combination across multiple clinical trials and has broad franchise potential. In clinical trials, azenosertib has been well tolerated and has demonstrated anti-tumor activity as a single agent across multiple tumor types and in combination with several chemotherapy backbones. As part of its azenosertib clinical development program, the Company is exploring enrichment strategies targeting tumors of high genomic instability, such as Cyclin E1 positive tumors and homologous recombination deficient tumors. The Company is also leveraging its extensive experience and capabilities across cancer biology and medicinal chemistry to advance its research on protein degraders. Zentalis has operations in both New York and San Diego.
For more information, please visit www.zentalis.com. Follow Zentalis on X/Twitter at @ZentalisP and on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/zentalis-pharmaceuticals.
SOURCE: Zentalis Pharmaceuticals
Post Views: 568
