On February 25, 2021 Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZNTL) reported a strategic collaboration with Tempus to leverage the company’s patient-derived organoid biological modeling platform to strengthen Zentalis’ discovery and research capabilities (Press release, Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, FEB 25, 2021, View Source [SID1234598457]).
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Zentalis CEO Anthony Sun commented, "We are thrilled to be entering into this collaboration with Tempus and its unique platform to help us discover and develop novel therapies aimed at a variety of cancers. This partnership provides Zentalis with access to Tempus’ one-of-a-kind resource to help validate our mechanistic discoveries, beginning with our WEE1 inhibitor, and ultimately to expand our growing product pipeline."
Tempus’ proprietary platform has the ability to grow and recapitulate tumors both genetically and functionally, some of which can be used for DNA repair profiling and research on potential therapeutic sensitivity. In harnessing Tempus’ cutting-edge approach, the collaboration will initially aim to validate Zentalis’ WEE1 inhibitor, ZN-c3, and its DNA damage response pathway in genetically distinct patient populations. The platform will also be used to investigate additional novel targets of cancer pathways that may be identified by Zentalis, as well as support the study of Zentalis’ current product candidates across various indications.
"We believe that our library of patient-derived organoids is well positioned to better identify patient populations that could benefit from Zentalis’ WEE1 inhibitor, ZN-c3," said Marc Yoskowitz, Chief Strategy Officer of Tempus. "We look forward to applying the full potential of our platform to address the ever-increasing unmet needs of cancer patients."
Zentalis retains full ownership of its therapeutic candidates.
About ZN-c3
ZN-c3 is an oral inhibitor of WEE1 in development for the treatment of advanced solid tumors. The inhibition of WEE1, a DNA damage response protein, aims to generate sufficient DNA damage in cancer cells, causing cell death, thereby preventing tumor growth and potentially causing tumor regression. Zentalis is currently conducting a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in patients with advanced solid tumors and expects to report data from the Phase 1 portion at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2021. In addition, the Company is also conducting a Phase 1b trial evaluating ZN-c3 in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer, with plans to initiate a Phase 2 trial investigating ZN-c3 as a monotherapy in patients with uterine serous carcinoma in 2021.