• First patient dosed with ZI-MA4-1 in the ZIMA-101 Phase 1 trial at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
• ZI-MA4-1 is the world’s first MAGE-A4-targeting TCR-NK therapy in clinical development
• ZIMA-101 represents the first clinical evaluation of Zelluna's proprietary TCR-NK platform
• Patient identification, pre-screening and screening activities continue across all four tumour indications included in the study
• Company on track for initial clinical data to emerge from mid-2026

 Zelluna ASA (OSE: ZLNA), a company pioneering allogeneic “off-the-shelf” T Cell Receptor-based Natural Killer (TCR-NK) cell therapies for the treatment of solid cancers, today announced that the first patient has been given the first dose in ZIMA-101, the Company’s first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating ZI-MA4-1, Zelluna’s lead TCR-NK product candidate.

The first patient was treated at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom, the largest single site cancer centre in Europe and the lead clinical site for the study where Professor Fiona Thistlethwaite serves as Chief Investigator for the study.

ZIMA-101 is evaluating ZI-MA4-1, the world's first MAGE-A4-targeting TCR-NK cell therapy to enter clinical development, in patients with advanced MAGE-A4-positive solid tumours. MAGE-A4 is present in several common cancer types, including ovarian cancer, squamous non-small cell lung cancer, synovial sarcoma and head and neck cancer, making it an attractive target for precision cell therapy.

ZIMA-101 also represents the first clinical evaluation of Zelluna's proprietary TCR-NK platform and builds on years of scientific innovation, preclinical research and manufacturing development. The study is now active at two clinical sites in the United Kingdom: The Christie and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trusts.

"This is a defining milestone for Zelluna and marks the beginning of the clinical evaluation of our proprietary TCR-NK platform," said Namir Hassan, Chief Executive Officer of Zelluna. "Dosing the first patient in ZIMA-101 is the culmination of years of scientific innovation, preclinical research and manufacturing development, and represents the transition from laboratory science to treating patients for the first time with our novel TCR-NK therapy. We are deeply grateful to the investigators and the clinical teams for making this milestone possible. We now look forward to advancing the study, generating the first clinical data from our proprietary TCR-NK platform and, ultimately, improving outcomes for patients with advanced solid tumours.”

Professor Fiona Thistlethwaite, Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Christie and honorary professor at The University of Manchester and Chief Investigator for the study said: “Dosing the first patient represents an exciting moment for everyone who has worked collaboratively to bring this brand-new class of cellular therapy to the clinic. In the coming weeks and months, we will be monitoring the patient's progress closely and gathering important data from this very innovative first-in-human early-phase trial, which will inform the next stages of patient recruitment. We are extremely grateful to the patient for agreeing to participate in this important research."

Patient identification, pre-screening and screening activities continue across all four tumour indications included in the ZIMA-101 study. Zelluna expects initial clinical data from the ZIMA-101 study to emerge from mid-2026.