AstraZeneca Acquires Full Global Rights to CBM's GPC3-armored CAR-T Therapy C-CAR031 for Up to $630 Million

On January 19, according to the company's official WeChat account, Cellular Biomedicine Group announced an agreement with AstraZeneca, under which AstraZeneca will acquire a 50% share of the development and commercialization rights of C-CAR031 in China. As a result, AstraZeneca will obtain exclusive global rights for the development, production, and commercialization of C-CAR031.

According to the terms of the agreement, Cellular Biomedicine Group (Shanghai) Ltd will be entitled to receive up to $630 million from AstraZeneca, including an upfront payment for the GPC3 project in China as well as development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments.

According to the introduction, Cellular Biomedicine Group (Shanghai) Ltd. is a global biopharmaceutical company at the clinical stage, focusing on the discovery and development of innovative cell therapies.

C-CAR031 is an autologous, Glypican 3 (GPC3)-targeted chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy. It is designed using AstraZeneca's dominant negative transforming growth factor-β receptor II (dnTGFβRII) armored platform and is currently under investigation for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and other solid tumors.

According to the previous agreement reached with Cellular Biomedicine Group, AstraZeneca holds the rights for the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of C-CAR031 outside of China (in other regions globally). For global development outside of China, Cellular Biomedicine Group is still eligible to receive additional milestone payments and royalties.