AstraZeneca is strengthening its cardiovascular disease pipeline with a $100 million upfront deal for a lipid-targeting drug from China’s CSPC Pharmaceutical Group.
The UK drugmaker will get the rights to a small molecule lipoprotein(a) disruptor that’s in preclinical development. The candidate, YS2302018, can stop the formation of a lipid that plays a key role in transporting cholesterol in the bloodstream. CSPC could get up to $1.92 billion in milestones as well as tiered royalties on sales, according to an AstraZeneca press release.
The company said the drug can be combined with others in its pipeline, including the small molecule PCSK9 inhibitor AZD0780. That candidate is currently in Phase 2 for dyslipidemia, which refers to a basket of diseases characterized by abnormal levels of lipids.
Cardiovascular, renal and metabolic disease has been an important area of growth for AstraZeneca in recent years, with the drugmaker investing in external innovation. In November, the company put down $185 million upfront to license an oral GLP-1 agonist from China’s Eccogene. At the start of 2023, it acquired CinCor Pharma and its hypertension drug candidate, baxdrostat, for $1.8 billion.
The drugmaker has also been looking more to China for assets, running counter to what some US peer companies have done. At an investor day event in May, CEO Pascal Soriot said innovation has “exploded” in the country and reiterated AstraZeneca’s commitment to tapping said innovation. His comments came in spite of heightened tensions between the US and China, which came to a head last month with the passing of the Biosecure Act.
During the company’s most recent earnings call, Soriot said AstraZeneca aims to treat cardiovascular diseases “holistically,” instead of just focusing on weight loss. The company has said combination approaches will be a key part of that strategy.
Other noteworthy players working on next-generation cholesterol treatments include Verve Therapeutics, which is advancing a base editing therapy for heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Eli Lilly, meanwhile, has a small molecule lp(a) formation inhibitor, muvalaplin, in Phase 2 development. Novartis is also developing a Phase 3 lp(a) targeting antisense therapy that it licensed from Ionis Pharmaceuticals called pelacarsen.