AstraZeneca Pays $630M for Complete Global Rights Over AbelZeta’s CAR T

 

The arrangement will boost AstraZeneca’s cell therapy portfolio as the pharma targets $80 billion in revenue by 2030.

AstraZeneca has doubled down on its CAR T collaboration with Shanghai-based AbelZeta, paying $630 million to scoop up all remaining rights to develop and commercialize the investigational autologous cancer therapy C-CAR301 in China.

With the deal, AstraZeneca now has sole rights over C-CAR031 globally, according to a Sunday news release.

AstraZeneca and AbelZeta first linked up in December 2023, with the pharma paying an undisclosed amount for global ownership of C-CAR031. In China, however, this agreement only gave AstraZeneca co-development and commercialization rights alongside AbelZeta. Now, AstraZeneca is paying the additional $630 million to buy out its Chinese partner.

Sunday’s agreement, according to AbelZeta CEO Tony Liu, will help “maximize C-CAR031’s global reach.” This deal is also AstraZeneca’s second China deal in as many months. The pharma last month put $2 billion on the line to collaborate with Jacobio Pharma on an early-stage pan-KRAS blocker, currently in early development for cancer.

C-CAR031 is an autologous CAR T therapy that targets the glypican 3 protein. Located on the surface of cells, glypican 3 has in recent years been found to be frequently overexpressed in a variety of cancers, particularly hepatocellular carcinoma, an indication in which C-CAR031 is being tested.

First-in-human data published in 2024 pointed to an objective response rate of 56.5%, with efficacy figures reaching as high as 75% for the top dose level. Tumors shrank in more than 90% of patients.

C-CAR031 was designed using AstraZeneca’s proprietary armoring platform, which creates constructs that can withstand the tumor’s microenvironment, which otherwise would deactivate and destroy cell therapies. This armoring involves modifying the CAR cells to disrupt the TGFβ receptor, which would otherwise suppress immune activity around the tumor.

Beyond its armored cell therapies, AstraZeneca is also advancing AZD0120, an investigational CAR T therapy designed to target both CD19 and BCMA for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Phase Ib/II data presented last November showed a complete response and stringent complete response rate of 78.3%, with partial response hitting 17.4%.

The pharma is also advancing the bispecific T cell engager surovatamig, which is currently in late-stage development for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Cell therapies like AZD0120 and C-CAR031, in addition to its antibody-drug conjugate programs, will pave the path for AstraZeneca’s ambitions to hit $80 billion in revenue by 2030, CFO Aradhana Sarin said at a company event during the recently concluded J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

https://www.biospace.com/deals/astrazeneca-pays-630m-for-complete-global-rights-over-abelzetas-car-t