Roche moved to lock in next-generation T-cell engager exposure by signing a global licensing and collaboration deal with Zymeworks for ZW209, a trispecific T-cell engager targeting DLL3. Roche will pay $55 million upfront and $40 million upon Phase Ib initiation, with development and sales milestones that could total $813 million, plus tiered royalties. The asset is designed to engage T cells through CD3 and CD28 while targeting DLL3-expressing tumor cells, with Roche taking over global development and commercialization after funding the Phase Ia study in collaboration. The deal positions Roche to compete in a space where multispecific antibody mechanisms are increasingly being differentiated by conditional co-stimulation and binding architecture. With FDA authorization already in place for the investigational new drug for ZW209, the near-term timeline depends on Phase Ib initiation and safety/early efficacy readouts. For Zymeworks, the agreement also provides a significant capital-light path to program progression while retaining a financial interest in outcomes.