Company Profile
Zymeworks is a publicly listed (NASDAQ: ZYME), global clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel, multifunctional biotherapeutics. Zymeworks’ mission is to make a meaningful difference in the lives of people impacted by difficult-to-treat cancers and other diseases. The Company’s complementary therapeutic platforms and fully integrated drug development engine provide the flexibility and compatibility to precisely engineer and develop highly differentiated antibody-based therapeutic candidates. Zymeworks engineered and developed zanidatamab, a HER2-targeted bispecific antibody using the Company’s proprietary Azymetric™ technology. Zymeworks has entered into separate agreements with BeiGene, Ltd. (BeiGene) and Jazz Pharmaceuticals Ireland Limited (Jazz), granting each exclusive rights to develop and commercialize zanidatamab in different territories. Zanidatamab is currently being evaluated in multiple global clinical trials as a potential best-in-class treatment for patients with HER2-expressing cancers. The U.S. FDA granted accelerated approval of Ziihera®(zanidatamab-hrii) 50mg/mL for injection for intravenous use for the treatment of adults with previously-treated, unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive (IHC 3+) biliary tract cancer (BTC). Ziihera is the first and only dual HER2-targeted bispecific antibody approved for HER2-positive BTC in the U.S. A BLA has also been accepted for review by the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in China. Zymeworks is rapidly advancing a robust pipeline of wholly-owned product candidates, leveraging its expertise in both antibody-drug conjugates and multispecific antibody therapeutics targeting novel pathways in areas of significant unmet medical need. Phase 1 studies for ZW171 and ZW191 are now actively recruiting with investigational new drug applications for ZW220 and ZW251 planned for 2025. In addition to Zymeworks’ pipeline, its therapeutic platforms have been further leveraged through strategic partnerships with global biopharmaceutical companies.
Our proprietary capabilities and technologies include several modular, complementary therapeutic platforms that can be used in combination with each other and with existing approaches. This ability to layer technologies without compromising manufacturability enables us to engineer next-generation biotherapeutics with synergistic activity, which we believe will result in improved patient outcomes. Our platforms include:
- Azymetric - our multispecific antibody platform, which enables therapeutic antibodies to simultaneously bind multiple distinct locations on a target (known as an epitope) or to multiple targets. This is achieved by tailoring multiple configurations of the antibody’s Fc and Fab regions (locations on the antibody to which epitopes bind);
- Drug Conjugate Platforms - used to develop antibody-drug conjugate (“ADC”) candidates, are comprised of cytotoxins and the linker technologies used to couple these cytotoxins to tumor-targeting antibodies or proteins. These platforms can be used in conjunction with our other therapeutic platforms, including our multispecific antibody platform, to increase safety and efficacy as compared to existing ADC technologies;
- EFECT - which enables finely tuned modulation (both up and down) of immune cell recruitment and function; and
- ProTECT - which enables tumor-specific activity that may reduce systemic toxicity and simultaneously enhances localized immune co-stimulation or checkpoint modulation that may increase efficacy. Our protein engineering expertise and proprietary structure-guided molecular modeling capabilities enable these therapeutic platforms. Together with our internal antibody discovery and generation technologies, we have established a fully integrated drug development engine and toolkit capable of rapidly delivering a steady pipeline of next-generation product candidates in oncology and other therapeutic areas.
We are driven by our mission to make a meaningful difference for people around the world who are impacted by difficult-to-treat cancers and other serious diseases. Our complementary therapeutic platforms and fully integrated drug development engine provide the flexibility and compatibility to precisely engineer and develop highly differentiated antibody-based therapeutics.