Zai Lab's zoci shows 40% response rate in hard-to-treat neuroendocrine cancers

What's the deal? Zai Lab presented updated data on 5 November 2026 from a Phase 1b/2 trial of zocilurtatug pelitecan (zoci, formerly ZL-1310), an investigational antibody-drug conjugate — a targeted cancer medicine that pairs an antibody with a cell-killing drug — in patients with previously treated advanced extrapulmonary neuroendocrine carcinomas (epNECs), aggressive cancers that arise outside the lung. In the 60-patient efficacy group, zoci achieved a confirmed objective response rate of 40.0% (tumours shrank or disappeared in 24 of 60 patients), with a median duration of response of 5.6 months. Responses were seen across subtypes, including 35.9% in gastroenteropancreatic NEC, and deepened over time.

Why it matters: There is no established standard of care for epNEC patients who progress after first-line platinum-based chemotherapy, making this a high-unmet-need setting. Based on feedback from the US FDA, Zai Lab plans to pursue a potential accelerated approval pathway from this single-arm study, with topline data for the full epNEC population expected in 2027. The safety profile was manageable: treatment-related discontinuation in under 1% of all 133 patients studied and a low rate of interstitial lung disease (1.5%, all Grade 2). Zai Lab also intends to start a global Phase 3 first-line maintenance trial of zoci in epNECs next year. The drug already holds US Orphan Drug Designation for NECs and Fast Track designation for epNECs.

Read more: Business Wire, 5 November 2026