VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zymeworks Inc. today announced the extension of a research collaboration with Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, that was originally announced in August 2011. In addition, Merck gains expanded access to Zymeworks’ proprietary Azymetric™ platform for the development of novel bi-specific antibody therapeutic candidates.
“We are extremely pleased with how the strategic collaboration is progressing with Merck and we are looking forward to working even closer together with the Merck biologics team in bringing groundbreaking therapies to the clinic,” said Ali Tehrani, Ph.D., President & CEO of Zymeworks.
Under the terms of this agreement Zymeworks has granted Merck, through a subsidiary, a worldwide license to develop and commercialize bi-specific antibodies generated through use of the Azymetric™ platform towards certain therapeutic targets. Both Zymeworks and Merck will progress bi-specific therapeutic antibody candidates in pre-clinical developments with Merck responsible for clinical development and commercialization.
About the Azymetric™ Platform
Bi-specific antibodies developed using the Azymetric™ platform resemble conventional mono-specific antibodies while incorporating two different Fab domains to bind to different antigens or drug targets. Azymetric™ antibodies spontaneously assemble into a single molecule comprising two unique heavy and light chain pairs and are manufactured using conventional monoclonal antibody processes. The Azymetric™ platform can be used to rapidly screen target and sequence combinations for bi-specific activities in the final therapeutic format, significantly shortening drug development timelines.
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.
