Zymeworks Presented With BIOTECanada Emerging Company Of The Year Gold Leaf Award

Vancouver Company Wins Prestigious National Award

OTTAWA, Ontario & VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vancouver-based biotechnology company Zymeworks Inc. will be presented with the Emerging Company of the Year (Health) award by BIOTECanada at this year’s BIO International Convention in Philadelphia. Zymeworks is being recognized for its ongoing accomplishments in its early-stage oncology biotherapeutics pipeline, as well as its breakthrough Azymetric™ biotherapeutics platform and the announcement of multiple marquee pharmaceutical partnerships in 2014 and 2015.

“We are very honoured to accept this year’s Gold Leaf Award from BIOTECanada”

BIOTECanada, Canada’s national biotechnology industry association, annually presents the Gold Leaf Awards to companies and individuals that have demonstrated exemplary vision and leadership in Canadian biotechnology.

“BIOTECanada is pleased to present the Emerging Company of the Year Gold Leaf Award to Zymeworks in recognition of the significant success and milestones reached in 2014,” commented Andrew Casey, President and CEO BIOTECanada. “Zymeworks serves as a perfect example of the Canadian biotech ecosystem at its functioning best. Like most biotech start-ups, Zymeworks began as a ‘great concept’ and through the leveraging of strategic partnerships with CTI Life Sciences, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, the National Research Council and multi nationals pharmaceutical companies such as Merck, Eli Lilly and Celgene, it has significantly advanced its best in class therapeutics and platform technologies. Zymeworks’ President and CEO, Ali Tehrani, and his growing Vancouver-based team are very worthy recipients of this Award as they have done a truly remarkable job in building an exciting and world leading Canadian biotech company.”

“We are very honoured to accept this year’s Gold Leaf Award from BIOTECanada” said Dr. Ali Tehrani, President and CEO of Zymeworks. “2014 was a transformative year for Zymeworks, and the recognition by BIOTECanada and our peers is incredibly humbling. Last year we expanded and signed new strategic collaborations with Merck, Eli Lilly, and Celgene, further demonstrating the utility and value of our Azymetric™ bi-specific platform for the development of breakthrough therapeutics. Additionally we raised over $50 million in capital, and advanced our lead oncology programs, ZW25 and ZW33, towards clinical trials. These accomplishments would not have been possible without the myriad contributions by the entire Zymeworks team, the unwavering backing of our shareholders and board of directors, the strong and open relationships with our pharmaceutical partners, the commitment to quality made by our suppliers, laboratories and partners, and the support of the Federal and Provincial governments.”

BIOTECanada appreciates the small group of industry leaders, from throughout the industry ecosystem, who served on the Advisory Panel for the Awards. The panel was instrumental in updating competition categories, developing selection criteria and nominating credentials. The Gold Leaf Awards will be presented during a ceremony at the BIO International Convention in Philadelphia on the exhibition floor Tuesday June 16 at 10am.

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 oncology, autoimmunity and inflammatory diseases. The company’s novel Azymetric™ and AlbuCORE™ platforms, and its proprietary ZymeCAD™ structure-guided protein engineering technology, enable the development of highly potent bi-specific antibodies and multivalent protein therapeutics targeted 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.

About BIOTECanada

BIOTECanada is the national industry association with more than 200 members located nationwide, reflecting the diverse nature of Canada’s health, industrial and agricultural biotechnology sectors. In addition to providing significant health benefits for Canadians, the biotechnology industry has quickly become an essential part of the transformation of many traditional cornerstones of the Canadian economy including manufacturing, automotive, energy, aerospace and forestry industries.

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