Zymeworks licenses ZW209 to Roche in DLL3 T cell engager deal

Zymeworks Inc. announced on October 23, 2026 that it signed a global license and collaboration agreement with Roche covering ZW209, a trispecific T cell engager targeting DLL3.¹

According to the company's 8-K, on October 22, 2026 Zymeworks and its subsidiary Zymeworks BC Inc. entered a Collaboration and License Agreement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd and Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., under which Zymeworks granted Roche an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing license, with sublicensing rights, to research, develop, manufacture, and commercialize products containing ZW209 or related trispecific T cell engagers targeting DLL3-expressing tumor cells, along with companion diagnostics.¹ The license takes effect on the first business day after clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act is received.¹

On financial terms, Roche agreed to pay Zymeworks an upfront, non-refundable payment of $55.0 million, due after HSR clearance.¹ Roche will also pay a non-refundable $40.0 million milestone tied to the start of the Phase Ib trial for the first product.¹ Beyond that, Zymeworks is eligible for research, development, commercial, and sales-based milestones totaling up to $718 million.¹ The company also stands to collect royalties on annual net sales, ranging from the high single digits to the mid-teens as a percentage, subject to standard reductions.¹ Those royalties run on a product-by-product and country-by-country basis until the later of ten years after first commercial sale in that country or the expiration of the relevant patent claims there.¹

On trial responsibilities, Zymeworks will run the Phase Ia monotherapy dose escalation trial at Roche's expense, while Roche takes sole responsibility, at its own cost, for all other development work including the Phase Ib trial designed to optimize dosing in the target patient population.¹ A Phase 1, open-label, multicenter, global study of ZW209 has already been initiated following FDA Investigational New Drug clearance, evaluating safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and early antitumor activity.¹ Enrollment will include adults with select advanced solid tumors, including small cell lung cancer and other DLL3-expressing neuroendocrine tumors.¹

The deal remains pending. It is still subject to expiration or termination of the HSR waiting period and other customary closing conditions, along with any required regulatory approvals.¹ Zymeworks has scheduled an investor call for October 27, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss the agreement, with webcast access posted on its investor relations site.¹