AstraZeneca Inks $5.3B Deal With CSPC Pharma For Developing New Oral Drug Candidate, But Retail’s In No Mood To Cheer

AstraZeneca (AZN) on Friday announced a strategic research collaboration with China-based CSPC Pharmaceuticals Group to advance the development of oral drug candidates with the potential to treat multiple chronic diseases.

Under the deal, the companies have also agreed to develop a pre-clinical small-molecule oral therapy for immunological diseases.

The research will be carried out by CSPC in Shijiazhuang City and will utilize their AI-driven drug discovery platform, which uses AI to analyse the binding patterns of target proteins with existing compound molecules. The AI also helps conduct targeted optimization with the intent of selecting highly effective small molecules with excellent developability.

CSPC will receive an upfront payment of $110 million as part of the agreement, and is eligible to receive up to $1.62 billion in potential development milestone payments and up to $3.6 billion in sales milestone payments.

CSPC can also receive potential single-digit royalties based on annual net sales of the products.

AstraZeneca, meanwhile, will have the right to exercise options for exclusive licenses to develop and commercialize worldwide candidates identified under the agreement.

In March, AstraZeneca announced a $2.5 billion investment in a research and development hub in Beijing. The new agreement will further the company’s presence in China, AstraZeneca said.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around AstraZeneca stayed within the ‘neutral’ territory over the past 24 hours while message volume rose from ‘low’ to ‘normal’ levels.

AZN stock is up by about 14% this year but down by nearly 6% over the past 12 months.

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