The FTSE 100 pharmaceutical giant will have access to exclusive global rights, outside China, to CSPC’s once-a-month dose technology for experimental weight management treatments
AstraZeneca has major UK hubs in Cambridge and Macclesfield(Image: Getty Images)
AstraZeneca has announced a strategic partnership with China’s CSPC Pharmaceutical Group valued at 18.5 billion US dollars (£13.4 billion) to accelerate the development of experimental weight loss and diabetes treatments, as the pharmaceutical giant seeks to expand its presence in the rapidly growing weight management market.
The agreement grants the FTSE 100 company exclusive worldwide rights, excluding China, to CSPC’s monthly-dose technology portfolio for weight management, providing an alternative to daily injections currently on the market.
The partnership will extend to four additional programmes, using CSPC’s advanced platforms for long-acting technology and artificial intelligence-driven peptide drug discovery.
Sharon Barr, executive vice president and head of biopharmaceuticals research and development at AstraZeneca, said: “This strategic collaboration advances our weight management portfolio by delivering novel assets which complement our existing programmes.”
She added: “It 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.
“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.”
Dongchen Cai, chairman of CSPC, described the arrangement as a “win-win collaboration”. He said the agreement will enable the companies to “deliver the next generation of treatments that build upon the emerging science, using our technology platforms and AstraZeneca’s complementary capabilities and reach, to realise global health benefits for people in need of improved weight management”.
This represents the latest collaboration between the two firms, who have previously partnered on projects such as artificial intelligence (AI). In exchange for access to eight weight loss programmes in total, AstraZeneca will pay CSPC an upfront fee of 1.2 billion dollars (£870 million), with up to a further 17.3 billion dollars (£12.6 billion) contingent on development and sales milestones being achieved.
The deal is anticipated to be finalised in the second quarter. This move sees AstraZeneca increase its investment into the rapidly expanding market for weight loss and diabetes drugs, which has hitherto been dominated by blockbuster brands Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy.
According to AstraZeneca, it is estimated that nearly three billion people worldwide are obese or overweight. The company said obesity was a “chronic, relapsing, multifactorial disease and contributes to over 200 complications”.