Latham & Watkins Advises Zentalis Pharmaceuticals on US$25 Million Equity Investment from Pfizer

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing small molecule therapeutics targeting fundamental biological pathways of cancers, has announced that it has agreed to sell 953,834 of its common shares at a price of US$26.21 per share to Pfizer for gross proceeds of US$25 million. The common shares were offered and sold to Pfizer in a registered direct offering conducted without an underwriter or placement agent. The offering is expected to close on or about April 29, 2022, subject to customary closing conditions. Zentalis intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to help fund ongoing and planned clinical trials and for working capital and general corporate purposes. In addition, the parties have entered into an agreement to collaborate to advance the clinical development of ZN-c3, a selective Wee1 inhibitor designed to induce synthetic lethality in cancer cells.

Latham & Watkins LLP represents Zentalis Pharmaceuticals in the transaction with a corporate team led by New York partner Nathan Ajiashvili, with New York associates Salvatore Vanchieri, Matt DeSilva, and Darby Dietrich. Advice was also provided on collaboration matters by San Diego counsel Darryl Steensma; on tax matters by Los Angeles/Century City partner Pardis Zomorodi and Century City/Orange County partner Sam Weiner, with Century City associate Ryan Brenner; and on data privacy & security matters by Bay Area partner Heather Deixler and London partner Fiona Maclean, with London associates Oliver Mobasser and Lorenzo Meusburger.