AstraZeneca is expanding its prospects in cardiometabolic disease, paying $1.2 billion to begin a partnership on eight programs that include obesity drug candidates with potential advantages over currently available products and clinical-stage medicines in the hands of other biopharmaceutical companies.
The drug candidates joining AstraZeneca’s pipeline are from China-based CSPC Pharmaceutical Group. The agreement announced Friday grants the British pharmaceutical company global rights, outside of Greater China, to CSPC’s portfolio of once-monthly injectable weight management drugs. AstraZeneca said the partnership will start by developing four programs that use CSPC’s artificial intelligence-driven peptide discovery platform and the biotech’s proprietary technology enabling once-monthly dosing.
The most advanced program coming from CSPC is SYH2083, a long-acting agonist of the GLP-1 and GIP receptors. Those are the same targets hit by the blockbuster Eli Lilly obesity drug, Zepbound. Earlier this week, Roche announced positive mid-stage results for its GLP-1/GIP agonist, now on track to enter Phase 3 testing. Kailera Therapeutics is also proceeding to Phase 3 with a GLP-1/GIP agonist. All three drugs are administered as weekly injections.
Under the terms of the agreement, CPSC will continue development of the four initial programs through the completion of Phase 1 testing. AstraZeneca is responsible for further development and commercialization of any approved products outside of China. While CSPC retains rights to the drugs in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, the deal grants AstraZeneca the right to opt-in to co-commercialize these products following regulatory approvals.
Beyond the $1.2 billion upfront payment, CSPC could receive up to $3.5 billion in development and regulatory milestone payments across the eight obesity and diabetes programs. CSPC is also in line to receive additional commercialization milestone payments plus royalties from sales of approved products.
The agreement gives AstraZeneca the option to pursue future metabolic drug candidates that use CSPC’s once-monthly dosing technology. Furthermore, AstraZeneca holds rights to deploy this technology across its internal development programs. Sharon Barr, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president and head of biopharmaceuticals R&D, said in a prepared statement that the drugs from CSPC complement the pharma company’s existing programs. The pipeline includes the oral GLP-1 receptor agonist elecoglipron (formerly AZD5004), which AstraZeneca gained from a 2023 deal with China-based Eccogene. Elecoglipron, a small molecule, is currently in mid-stage clinical development for type 2 diabetes and chronic weight management.
Other metabolic assets in the AstraZeneca pipeline include AZD6234, a weekly injectable selective amylin receptor agonist currently in Phase 2 development for chronic weight management. AZD9550, a weekly injectable dual GLP-1/glucagon receptor agonist, is in mid-stage development for obesity. AstraZeneca’s metabolic disease pipeline also has several preclinical assets.
“[The collaboration] will provide access to CSPC’s proprietary AI-enabled peptide capabilities and platform technology, which have the potential to transform the treatment of obesity, helping to address adherence and convenience as key barriers to long-term therapeutic success,” Barr said. “This is an important step in creating a portfolio of simple, scalable and sustainable options that can help people with obesity, and weight-related complications live better, healthier lives.”
The new agreement builds on an existing relationship between AstraZeneca and CSPC. In 2024, the British pharma company paid $100 million to license a CSPC cholesterol-lowering oral small molecule. Last year, AstraZeneca paid $110 million up front to collaborate on the discovery and development of new drugs based on CSPC’s AI-driven technology.
The latest deal between the two companies comes as AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot accompanies U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on a trip to China, the first visit by a British prime minister in eight years. On Thursday, AstraZeneca announced plans to invest $15 billion in manufacturing and R&D infrastructure in China through 2030.
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