AstraZeneca to License Cardiovascular Drug from CSPC Pharma for a Whopping $2 Bn

The agreement includes an upfront payment of $100 million, with an additional $1.9 billion in milestone payments to license the cardiovascular drug.

Global pharma giant, AstraZeneca has announced that it will pay up to $2 billion to license a cardiovascular drug from CSPC Pharmaceutical Group.

The agreement includes an upfront payment of $100 million, with an additional $1.9 billion in milestone payments to license the cardiovascular drug.

The deal will allow AstraZeneca to develop the pre-clinical small molecule candidate as a novel lipid-lowering therapy.

The cardiovascular drug is aimed at treating patients with dyslipidaemia. AstraZeneca stated that the small molecule has been shown to prevent the formation of lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a), a form of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) responsible for transporting cholesterol in the bloodstream.

In a statement, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group revealed that it could receive up to $370 million in potential development milestone payments and up to $1.55 billion in sales milestone payments from AstraZeneca.

Further, CSPC will also receive tiered royalties based on annual sales of the cardiovascular drug. The compound was discovered through CSPC's AI-driven small molecule drug design platform.

AstraZeneca’s Other Initiatives

In July this year, AstraZeneca India announced a substantial INR 250 Cr investment to expand its Chennai campus with the establishment of a Global Innovation and Technology Center (GITC).

This initiative aims to enhance capabilities in enterprise platforms, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, and supply chain analytics for healthcare.

The Global Innovation and Technology Centre (GITC) in Chennai began its journey as a back-office facility. It offers conventional information technology services essential for driving the company's technological advancements and innovations across its global operations.

According to the pharma company, the center plays a vital role in facilitating the delivery of transformative medicines to patients worldwide.

While, the global pharmaceutical player also planned to build a $1.5 billion manufacturing facility in Singapore.

The newly launched facility will produce a notable category of cancer-killing drugs called antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker informed.

Construction of the facility is set to begin by the end of 2024, with operations expected to commence in 2029. The company also committed to achieving zero carbon emissions from the facility's first day of operations.

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