Roaring Zymeworks Inks Antibody Pact Worth $440 Million+ with GlaxoSmithKline

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zymeworks Inc. today announced that it has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for the research, development, and commercialization of novel Fc-engineered monoclonal and bi-specific antibody therapeutics which have been optimized for specific therapeutic effects.

Under the terms of the agreement, Zymeworks and GSK will collaborate to further develop Zymeworks’ Effector Function Enhancement and Control Technology (EFECT™) platform through the design, engineering, and testing of novel engineered Fc domains tailored to induce specific antibody-mediated immune responses. At the conclusion of the research collaboration, both GSK and Zymeworks will have the right to develop and commercialize monoclonal and bi-specific antibody candidates that incorporate Zymeworks’ optimized immune-modulating Fc domains. Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will have the right to develop a minimum of 4 products across multiple disease areas, and Zymeworks will be eligible to receive pre-clinical, clinical, and commercial milestones of up to USD$110 million for each product, as well as tiered sales royalties. Further financial details are not disclosed.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with GSK on the development of next-generation antibody therapeutics that incorporate the EFECT™ platform to help fight life-threatening diseases,” said Ali Tehrani, Ph.D., President & CEO of Zymeworks. “This is a unique opportunity for Zymeworks to apply our antibody engineering expertise in collaboration with GSK’s drug discovery capabilities to develop and commercialize novel antibody therapeutics. The collaboration will also allow Zymeworks to combine the novel immune-modulating Fc domains with our Azymetric™ platform to generate bi-specific antibodies with customized immune modulatory functions.”

About the EFECT™ Platform
The EFECT™ platform is a library of antibody Fc modifications engineered to modulate the activity of the antibody-mediated immune response, which includes both the up and down-regulation of effector functions. This platform is compatible with traditional monoclonal as well as Azymetric™ bi-specific antibodies to further enable the customization of therapeutic responses for different diseases.

About Zymeworks Inc.
Zymeworks is a privately held biotherapeutics company that is developing best-in-class Azymetric™ bi-specific antibodies and antibody drug conjugates for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The company’s novel Azymetric™, AlbuCORE™, and EFECT™ platforms, and its proprietary ZymeCAD™ structure-guided protein engineering technology, enable the development of highly potent bi-specific antibodies and multivalent protein therapeutics across a range of indications. Zymeworks is focused on accelerating its preclinical biotherapeutics pipeline through in-house research and development programs and strategic collaborations. More information on Zymeworks can be found at www.zymeworks.com.