AstraZeneca Bets Over $500 Million on Cellectis, Sending Shares Soaring 172%

Nov 02, 2023 10:49 CST Updated 10:49

AstraZeneca

Biopharmaceutical Manufacturer

Cellectis

Cell and Gene Therapy Developer

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November 1,AstraZeneca announced a collaboration with French biotechnology company Cellectis to develop up to 10 cell and gene therapy candidates in the fields of oncology, immunology, and rare diseases.。

According to the agreement, AstraZeneca has obtained exclusive rights to 25 gene targets and will leverage Cellectis' cutting-edge gene editing technology and production capabilities to enhance its development of innovative cell and gene therapies, strengthening its position in this field. Meanwhile, Cellectis will receive an upfront payment of $105 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 and a $140 million equity investment.Funding as well as development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments (US$70–220 million per product), totaling over US$500 million.

Affected by this news,Cellectis Soars 172%, with a current market value of 52.94 million US dollars.

Dr. André Choulika, CEO of CellectisSaid: "AstraZeneca provides world-class expertise in the development and commercialization of innovative drugs, which perfectly complements Cellectis' technology. This collaboration will leverage our groundbreaking research in gene editing and cell therapy, as well as our cutting-edge capabilities in manufacturing, to jointly develop new therapies."

Marc Dunoyer, Chief Strategy Officer of AstraZeneca and CEO of AstraZeneca Rare Disease (formerly Alexion)"Cellectis' capabilities in gene editing and manufacturing complement the company. AstraZeneca will continue to advance cell therapies and gene therapies related to oncology and autoimmune diseases, bringing transformative treatments for rare diseases."

About Cellectis

Cellectis, founded on January 4, 2000, is a French biopharmaceutical company with a 21-year history. The company leverages its core proprietary technology to develop gene-editing-based products and possesses a series of allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-T). In 2015, Cellectis successfully treated a one-year-old girl in the UK suffering from leukemia by modifying immune cells donated by healthy donors to carry anti-leukemia genes. This achievement caused a sensation and marked the world's first case of universal CAR-T cell therapy.

Cellectis R&D Pipeline

References:

https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2023/astrazeneca-cell-and-gene-therapy-deal-w-cellectis.html