AstraZeneca Intensifies Strategic Moves with Major Collaborations and Ambitious 2030 Growth Targets

Global pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has been making frequent moves recently — a nearly $600 million collaboration with Nanor Biotech (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harbour BioMed), $110 million to support the development of healthy weight loss therapies, and setting an $80 billion revenue target...

1. Over $700 Million
AstraZeneca Reaches Two Major Collaborations

On May 23, AstraZeneca reached a cooperation agreement with Nona Bio (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harbour BioMed), under which Nona Bio licensed a preclinical-stage tumor-targeted therapeutic monoclonal antibody to AstraZeneca.

According to the agreement, AstraZeneca will pay $19 million as an upfront payment, $10 million in expected near-term milestone payments, $575 million in development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, tiered royalties based on net sales, and a certain percentage of sales sharing, with the total transaction amounting up to $604 million.

This is not the first collaboration between AstraZeneca and Harbour BioMed. As early as April 2022, AstraZeneca had already entered into an out-licensing agreement with Harbour BioMed for the development and commercialization of the bispecific antibody HBM7022.

Puja Sapra, Senior Vice President of Bioengineering and Oncology Targeted Therapies at AstraZeneca's Oncology R&D Division, stated that antibodies generated by the innovative biologics discovery engine of Harbour BioMed (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. are expected to be further developed into novel oncology targeted therapies, leveraging AstraZeneca's industry-leading R&D capabilities.

The oncology field has always been one of the key areas of development for AstraZeneca. The Q1 2024 performance report shows that AstraZeneca's two major oncology products, Osimertinib and Durvalumab, both achieved year-over-year growth, and both products ranked among the top three in AstraZeneca’s sales in Q1 2024.

In recent years, AstraZeneca has accelerated market development through both project BD introductions and mergers and acquisitions. Chen Bing, Vice President of International Business Development and Strategic Investment at AstraZeneca and Founding Managing Partner of AstraZeneca-CICC Healthcare Industry Fund, stated in a 2023 media roundtable interview that AstraZeneca's BD activities were relatively more active in 2023, reflecting the market value.

Recently, AstraZeneca reached a strategic partnership with SixPeaks (a Swiss biotech startup), under which SixPeaks will receive up to 80 million US dollars in funding over the next two years. As part of the collaboration, AstraZeneca has the right to acquire SixPeaks during this period.

SixPeaks focuses on developing advanced health weight-loss therapies. It has developed an anti-activin receptor IIA/B antibody conjugated with a GLP-1 peptide, which could become a potential "first-in-class" therapy that maximizes the weight-loss effects mediated by GLP-1 receptor agonists while preserving muscle mass.

2. Restructuring in China
Set a revenue target of 80 billion US dollars

The reason for continuous BD activities might be found in AstraZeneca's recent Investor Day. During the event, the company stated its goal of achieving $80 billion in total revenue by 2030 and sustaining growth beyond 2030.

AstraZeneca also revealed that it will launch 20 new drugs by 2030, including future new drugs such as the CYP11B2 small molecule Baxdrostat and AZNADCs.

The oncology field is an important engine for AstraZeneca's future growth in 2030+. Moving forward, AstraZeneca will continue to invest in disruptive industries (weight loss, ADC/RDC, next-generation IO bispecifics, cell/gene therapies), leveraging both external and internal innovation to build a strong product pipeline that includes various novel drug modalities, such as: ADC/RDC, cell/gene therapies, T-cell engagers, and more.

This also well explains the reason why AstraZeneca is strengthening cooperation and taking continuous actions in the oncology field.

In March this year, AstraZeneca announced that it would acquire Fusion Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, for nearly $2.4 billion. Fusion, as a clinical-stage oncology company, focuses on developing the next generation of radiopharmaceutical conjugates — which have the advantages of precise targeting, potent killing, limited damage, and integrated diagnosis and treatment, and are also considered a promising approach to cancer therapy. Fusion's core product is FPI-2265, a new therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer that targets prostate-specific membrane antigen and is currently in Phase II clinical development.

From a specific regional perspective, the Chinese market has always been one of AstraZeneca's core areas of focus.

At the beginning of this year, AstraZeneca China underwent a structural adjustment and established its biopharmaceutical business in China, which is led by Lin Xiao. On May 26, Saibailan found that on AstraZeneca China’s official website, Lai Minglong's title had changed from "General Manager of AstraZeneca China, General Manager of Oncology Business" as of January 14 to "Senior Vice President of AstraZeneca Global, General Manager of AstraZeneca China, General Manager of Oncology Business."

AstraZeneca has stated that the new landscape adds momentum to the long-term development of its business.

From the latest earnings report, AstraZeneca's performance in the Chinese market has shown significant growth — QI achieved revenue of $1.748 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13%.

However, to achieve the $80 billion revenue target, AstraZeneca's reforms will continue.

Editor: Baiji

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