Zelluna trial expands.
Zelluna ASA expands ZIMA-101 trial by activating Royal Marsden as second clinical site.
Zelluna ASA has activated The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust as the second clinical site in its ZIMA-101 Phase 1 trial, announced on June 29, 2026. With two of the UK's leading cancer centres now running, the Norwegian biotech says it has full clinical execution capability and remains on track for initial data by mid-2026. Yahoo Finance reported the news.
The trial tests ZI-MA4-1, the world's first MAGE-A4-targeting TCR-NK cell therapy to enter human trials. MAGE-A4 is a protein found on the surface of many solid tumours. The "TCR-NK" approach pairs precise tumour targeting with the natural killing power of NK immune cells — a combination designed to attack cancers that have long resisted standard cell therapies, according to GlobeNewswire.
Royal Marsden Joins The Christie to Run ZIMA-101
The Royal Marsden, based in London, is one of Europe's top cancer research hospitals. Dr. Andrew Furness serves as principal investigator at the site. His team will focus on finding patients who carry two specific biological markers: HLA-A*02 and MAGE-A4 expression. Both markers must be present for a patient to join the trial, according to GlobeNewswire.
The first site, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, was activated on May 6, 2026. Adding The Royal Marsden doubles Zelluna's screening capacity. CEO Namir Hassan said the company now has "full clinical execution capability across two of the UK's leading cancer centres." The two sites together widen the search for eligible patients significantly, GlobeNewswire reported.
Why TCR-NK Therapy Could Crack Solid Tumours
Standard CAR-T cell therapies have worked well in blood cancers. But solid tumours — like lung, ovarian, and head and neck cancers — have largely resisted them. A key reason is "tumour escape": the cancer mutates and hides from the therapy. Zelluna's TCR-NK approach uses NK cells, which carry multiple attack mechanisms, making it harder for tumours to hide, according to GlobeNewswire.
Professor Fiona Thistlethwaite, Chief Investigator at The Christie, said the TCR-NK method could deliver the "step-change that we need in the solid tumour setting to provide the required level of tumour potency whilst avoiding tumour escape." The therapy is also "off-the-shelf" — made from healthy donor cells — so patients do not have to wait weeks for a custom product to be manufactured, Goldea Capital noted.
NOK 58 Million Raised to Fund the Road to Data
On June 18, 2026, Zelluna closed a private placement and retail offering, raising roughly NOK 58.2 million at NOK 18.50 per share. The round was oversubscribed, signalling strong investor confidence. The funds extend the company's financial runway into Q1 2027, giving it enough cash to reach the mid-2026 data readout, according to GlobeNewswire.
Zelluna listed on the Euronext Oslo Børs in March 2025 under the ticker ZLNA, becoming the first cell therapy company on the exchange. It opened with a market cap of NOK 463.2 million. The MHRA and UK Research Ethics Committee approved the ZIMA-101 trial in February 2026, and Medpace was named as the CRO partner that same month, Yahoo Finance reported.
Key Risks Remain as NK Cell Persistence Is Debated
NK cells do not stay in the body as long as T-cells. Some analysts and researchers question whether NK cells can survive long enough inside a tumour to produce a lasting response. This is a known challenge across the broader NK cell therapy field, and Zelluna's trial data — expected from mid-2026 — will be the first real test of its approach in humans, according to Goldea Capital.
The ZIMA-101 trial targets patients with advanced solid cancers including non-small-cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, head and neck cancer, and synovial sarcoma. These are all cancers with few good treatment options. Initial clinical data from the two UK sites is expected to emerge by mid-2026, Yahoo Finance reported — a milestone Zelluna's leadership says will be the company's next major value inflection point.
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