CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Announces Strategic R&D Collaboration Agreement with AstraZeneca for AI-Driven Discovery of Novel Oral Small Molecule Therapeutics

Intelligent Finance APP reported that CSPC (01093) announced its group has entered into a strategic R&D collaboration agreement with global biopharmaceutical leader AstraZeneca. The aim is to leverage the group’s AI engine, a dual-driven efficient drug discovery platform, to identify and develop novel oral small-molecule drug candidates. The platform uses AI technology to analyze the binding modes of target proteins with existing compound molecules and conducts targeted optimization, aiming to screen out highly effective small molecules with excellent development potential.

According to the terms of the agreement, the group agrees to discover preclinical candidate drugs (PCC) with multi-indication disease treatment potential for multiple targets selected by AstraZeneca, including a preclinical small-molecule oral therapy for immune diseases.

For each PCC project, AstraZeneca will have the right to exercise an option to obtain an exclusive global license for development, manufacturing, and commercialization. The group will receive an upfront payment of $110 million and is eligible to receive up to $1.62 billion in potential development milestone payments and up to $3.6 billion in potential sales milestone payments, along with tiered single-digit royalties based on the relevant product’s annual net sales.