Zielbio, Inc.

GHENT, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Confo Therapeutics, a leader in the discovery of medicines targeting G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), today announced the appointment of Dieter Weinand as Independent Chairman of its Board of Directors. Mr. Weinand brings with him a wealth of experience with more than 35 years in the pharmaceutical industry and over 25 years as the leader of geographic and strategic business units and drug commercialization efforts across global organizations, including several years as the President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Bayer Pharmaceuticals AG. He joins Confo as the company advances its pipeline and continues to leverage its proprietary GPCR drug discovery engine. Mr. Weinand succeeds John Berriman, who is retiring from his current position as Chairman of Confo's Board of Directors. “Dieter is an exceptional leader in the pharmaceutical industry with a proven track record across the spectrum of research and development to commercialization, bringing impactful medications to patients. A chairman of his caliber will be invaluable as we continue progressing as an organization with a truly innovative GPCR-targeting technology and a growing pipeline of novel drug candidates,” said Cedric Ververken, CEO of Confo Therapeutics. “On behalf of the Confo team, I sincerely thank John Berriman for his guidance over the past seven years and his contributions to Confo’s growth into a clinical-stage drug development company.” “Confo is moving on an exciting trajectory, harnessing the momentum of a pivotal agreement with Eli Lilly for its first clinical program, CFTX-1554, and building out a robust pipeline of large and small molecules based on its unique platform,” added Dieter Weinand, Independent Chairman. “I look forward to working together with the Confo team to advance the company through its next stages of growth and to achieve its future strategic business and pipeline objectives.” Mr. Weinand has had a highly successful career across all areas of pharmaceutical development, commercialization, and international organizational leadership. Most recently, he was Head of Global Primary Care Business at Sanofi where he led the optimization of the company’s portfolios. Before this, he was President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Bayer Pharmaceuticals AG, where he was responsible for integrating the R&D, manufacturing, and all commercial and support functions of the healthcare business of the Bayer AG corporation. Mr. Weinand held various senior management positions across international corporations including at Bristol-Meyers Squibb and Pfizer. He has been instrumental in the launch and marketing of some of the industry’s pivotal products including Lipitor®, Neurontin®, Abilify® and Cipro®. Mr. Weinand holds a B.A. in Biology from Concordia College, New York, and an M.S. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Long Island University, New York. Mr. Weinand is Chairman of the Board of Nasdaq-listed Replimune (REPL), FORE Biotherapeutics, and ZielBio, among others. About Confo Therapeutics Confo Therapeutics is the only GPCR company with a proprietary discovery engine that precisely targets desired GPCR conformations. This unique capability allows us to unlock a vast untapped potential for the discovery and development of breakthrough medicines. We are advancing a robust pipeline of large and small molecules focused on validated targets in endocrine and metabolic diseases, as well as addressing a broader array of critical unmet medical needs in collaboration with our partners. Our team of accomplished experts is dedicated to advancing our patent protected technology, expanding our capabilities, and building out our pipeline in order to achieve the best possible therapeutic outcomes for patients. For more information, visit View source version on businesswire.com: Contacts Confo Therapeutics Dr. Cedric Ververken, CEO +32 (0) 9 396 74 00 Email: info@confotherapeutics.com Trophic Communications Valeria Fisher or Desmond James + 49 (0) 175 8041816 or +49 (0) 1516 7859086 Email: confo@trophic.eu Source: Confo Therapeutics View this news release online at:

ZB131 is a first-in-class humanized monoclonal antibody targeting cancer-specific plectin (CSP), which is expressed on the surface of cancer cells in solid tumors Interim data demonstrates safety and tolerability of ZB131 while providing evidence of clinical activity in a proportion of patients with difficult-to-treat tumors CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., June 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ZielBio, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering new treatments for cancer and other serious diseases, will present the first set of clinical data from its lead asset, ZB131, directed against cancer-specific plectin (CSP), during the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. In an interim analysis (n=32) of the Phase 1/2 trial, ZB131 demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile, evidence of clinical activity and dose-proportional pharmacokinetics. Dr. David Sommerhalder, principal investigator at NEXT Oncology in San Antonio, Texas, will present the data in a poster session (board 281) on Saturday, June 3 from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm in poster Hall A at Chicago's McCormick Place. The ZB131 clinical trial (trial identifier NCT05074472) is a Phase 1/2, first-in-human, open-label, dose escalation study of ZB131 in tumors likely to express CSP. The primary objective of the dose escalation phase was to evaluate the safety and tolerability of ZB131 as a monotherapy. Having established safe dosing levels, the study began enrolling expansion cohorts treating patients with either ZB131 at 30 mg/kg as a monotherapy or ZB131 at 15 mg/kg in combination with gemcitabine. "The initial safety, pharmacokinetics and clinical activity from the Phase 1/2 trial, combined with preclinical evidence that ZB131 binds selectively to CSP, rapidly internalizes, and can be conjugated to cytotoxic payloads, validates our efforts to further develop ZB131, including as an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)," said Alan Bash, CEO of ZielBio. "CSP is a highly promising target given its cell surface expression in malignant tissue and lack of presence in healthy tissue across multiple solid tumors, and ZielBio is leading the field of research into this target." About ZielBio ZielBio is a clinical stage biotechnology company that identifies novel disease targets and develops therapeutic interventions to improve patient outcomes. Its proprietary drug discovery platform ZielFind combines the power of functional, high throughput screening with large content data analytics to identify high value targets. ZielBio has a promising pipeline of therapies and targets, including novel lead asset ZB131 (proposed international nonproprietary name Ibentatug), a proprietary humanized monoclonal antibody against cancer-specific plectin. The company's clinical trial of ZB131 is open and enrolling with additional study details available at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05074472). SOURCE ZielBio, Inc.

ZB131 is a first-in-class humanized monoclonal antibody targeting cancer-specific plectin (CSP), which is expressed on the surface of cancer cells in many solid tumors New, preclinical research suggests that CSP is a promising target and ZB131 is an ideal candidate for antibody-drug conjugate approaches CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ZielBio, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering new treatments for cancer and other serious diseases, will present new, preclinical data showing that its lead asset, ZB131, directed against cancer-specific plectin (CSP), represents a promising approach for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2023. The AACR Annual Meeting is taking place April 14-19, 2023 in Orlando and virtually. ZielBio's Dr. Lindsey Brinton, Principal Scientist and Head of Research, and Dr. Samantha Perez, Senior Scientist, will present the data in a poster session on Wednesday, April 19 from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm in Section 21 of the poster hall. Major advances in payload and linker technology are increasing the clinical adoption of ADCs, leaving an unmet need for the identification of new targets that differentiate cancer cells from healthy cells across multiple tumor types. ZielBio has validated CSP, a pro-tumorigenic protein expressed on the surface of cancer cells, as a high-value drug target and developed ZB131 as a first-in-class anti-CSP monoclonal antibody. ZB131 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial (NCT05074472) across multiple solid tumors. Research presented at AACR will focus on CSP as a target for ADCs, demonstrating its abundance on the surface of cancer cells (and not healthy tissue), its bioavailability in humans, and its application across multiple cancer indications. ZB131 demonstrates favorable pharmacokinetics, is rapidly internalized by CSP-expressing tumor cells in mouse models, and can be conjugated to multiple cytotoxic payloads. "These findings underscore our enthusiasm for CSP as a therapeutic target and ZB131 as an excellent candidate for conjugation to payloads," said Alan Bash, CEO of ZielBio. "We are excited to share this data with the AACR community and are committed to exploring new avenues for deploying ZB131 against difficult-to-treat cancers." About ZielBio ZielBio is a clinical stage biotechnology company that identifies novel disease targets and develops therapeutic interventions to improve patient outcomes. Its proprietary drug discovery platform ZielFind combines the power of functional, high throughput screening with large content data analytics to identify high value targets. ZielBio has a promising pipeline of therapies and targets, including novel lead asset ZB131 (proposed international nonproprietary name Ibentatug), a proprietary humanized monoclonal antibody against cancer-specific plectin. The company's clinical trial of ZB131 is open and enrolling with additional study details available at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05074472). SOURCE ZielBio, Inc.