AstraZeneca

The companies have also signed a non-binding MoU covering a broader global programme to evaluate ivonescimab in combination with additional AstraZeneca oncology therapies.

The new venture will initially manufacture biologic drug substances that the two companies mutually select for global markets.

Both programmes will combine SOPHiA GENETICS’ decentralised clinical trial assay capabilities with AstraZeneca’s oncology therapies.

The new collaboration centres on CSPC’s small interfering RNA (siRNA) drug discovery platform and its proprietary delivery technology, which is designed to transport therapies beyond the liver.

The decision expands Imfinzi’s bladder cancer footprint beyond its earlier approval in muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), where it is used with chemotherapy agents’ gemcitabine and cisplatin before surgery and as a monotherapy afterward.

Regulators approved the drug as an additional therapy for patients whose blood pressure remains uncontrolled despite using standard antihypertensive medicines.

NICE recommended Imfinzi for adults whose stomach cancer has not spread extensively and can be removed through surgery, including gastric and gastro-oesophageal junction cancers that physicians frequently diagnose at advanced stages.

The new production hub will be located in the Lin-gang Special Area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, where it will supply autologous CAR-T therapies to China and other Asian markets.

CSPC is expected to receive an additional USD3.5 billion if the programs successfully meet development and regulatory milestones, in addition to royalties from any drugs approved under the partnership.