Rznomics Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in South Korea, announced on Monday the presentation of interim clinical data from its ongoing study of RZ-001, an RNA editing-based investigational anticancer therapy, in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2026 in San Diego, California.

The study includes patients with HCC who are refractory to or ineligible for transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and have not received prior systemic therapy.

According to the data, combination treatment of RZ-001 with atezolizumab and bevacizumab demonstrated an objective response rate (ORR) of 38.5% (confirmed) and 46.2% (unconfirmed) based on RECIST v1.1 criteria.

Under mRECIST criteria, the ORR reached 61.5%, with a complete response (CR) rate of 23%, suggesting deep tumour responses. Given that mRECIST reflects tumour necrosis, these findings may indicate meaningful therapeutic impact in HCC.

At interim analysis, responses are typically categorised as confirmed or unconfirmed. Confirmed responses are those validated through subsequent assessments, while unconfirmed responses represent initial observations. In this study, patients classified as having unconfirmed PR under RECIST criteria had achieved an initial tumour size reduction of at least 30%.

In terms of safety, a total of five Grade 3 or higher adverse events were reported as related to combination agents, including hypertension (2 cases), proteinuria, hyperglycaemia, and gastrointestinal bleeding. Notably, no Grade 3 or higher adverse events were attributed to RZ-001.

The company believes these results demonstrate a favourable safety profile for RZ-001, with no treatment-related safety concerns identified to date, along with encouraging signals of anti-tumour activity in terms of both response depth and overall response rate in combination with standard immunotherapy.