AstraZeneca and Cellectis Announce Strategic Collaboration to Advance Up to 10 Next-Generation Cell and Gene Therapies

▎WuXi

Edited by Kant Content Team

Today, AstraZeneca and Cellectis announced a strategic collaboration and investment agreement,Will jointly collaborate to accelerate the development of up to 10 next-generation cell and gene therapies, primarily focusing on areas with significant unmet medical needs, including oncology, immunology, and rare diseases.According to the agreement, Cellectis may receive up to $245 million.

Through this collaboration, AstraZeneca will leverage Cellectis' cutting-edge gene editing technology and production capabilities to enhance its development of innovative cell and gene therapies, strengthening its expanding portfolio in this field. As part of this agreement,AstraZeneca has obtained exclusive rights to 25 gene targets and may explore potential therapy development for up to 10 of them.

▲Cellectis' Allogeneic CAR-T Cell Therapy Pipeline (Image Source:

Cellectis Official Website）

According to the cooperation agreement, AstraZeneca will bear the research expenses related to this cooperation. In addition, Cellectis will receive a $25 million upfront payment, potential IND option fees, and development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments.For each of these 10 candidate products, Cellectis may receive payments ranging from $70 million to $220 million.

▲Cellectis CEO André Choulika, Ph.D.

Cellectis is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with 23 years of expertise in the field of gene editing.Cellectis Focuses on Developing Candidate Therapies Using Its Gene Editing Technology TALEN and Its Groundbreaking Electroporation System PulseAgile to Harness the Power of the Immune System, Targeting and Eliminating Cancer Cells.In 2017, Dr. André Choulika, CEO of Cellectis, stated in an exclusive interview with the content team of WuXi AppTec that Cellectis has been deeply engaged in the field of gene editing for many years and possesses a strong and experienced team of senior experts in gene editing. He emphasized that the company is not solely focused on technology, as technology can eventually become obsolete. What Cellectis is doing is developing a systematic approach to harness all gene editing technologies for its use. The company is also actively seeking collaboration opportunities. In addition to the development of CAR-T therapies for treating hematological tumors, it is also attempting to use gene editing for antiviral research or treating metabolic diseases.