AstraZeneca to invest $245m in French biotech company Cellectis
- The British-Swedish company has been given exclusive rights to 25 genetic targets
- Cellectis founder: ‘We believe AstraZeneca is the perfect match with Cellectis’
AstraZeneca will invest $245 million in a French biotech group to boost drug development in oncology, immunology and rare diseases.
The FTSE 100 pharmaceutical giant told investors it will use Cellectis’ technologies and manufacturing capacity to create new gene and cell therapy products.
The Anglo-Swedish company has been given exclusive rights to 25 genetic targets, with up to 10 product candidates potentially being explored for development.
New agreement: AstraZeneca said it will use Cellectis’ technologies and manufacturing capacity to make new gene and cell therapy products
In turn, Cellectis may earn an investigational new drug option fee and payments related to development, regulatory and sales milestones ranging from $70 million to $220 million for each of the ten product candidates.
AstraZeneca will pay Cellectis an initial sum of $105 million, consisting of an upfront payment of $25 million and an equity investment of $80 million, giving it an approximately 22 percent stake.
It expects to increase its stake to 44 percent when it invests another $140 million in the Paris-based group sometime early next year.
André Choulika, CEO of Cellectis, said: “We believe AstraZeneca is the perfect match for Cellectis by offering world-class expertise in the development and commercialization of innovative medicines.”
Marc Dunoyer, CEO of AstraZeneca subsidiary Alexion, added: “Cellectis’ differentiated capabilities in gene editing and manufacturing complement our internal expertise and investments we have made over the past year.”
It comes amid speculation about the future of AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, who is reportedly considering resigning to spend more time in Australia, where his family lives.
At the European Society for Medical Oncology conference in Madrid last week, the French-born boss denied he was planning to quit, calling the rumors “completely fabricated.”
The Times subsequently reported that Soriot planned to stay with the company for a while five more years as long as I perform and deliver’.
Since taking charge 11 years ago, he has transformed AstraZeneca from an industry laggard into a pharmaceutical giant by increasing R&D spending to revitalize its drug portfolio.
Soriot has also overseen numerous acquisitions, including the successful £28 billion acquisition of rare disease specialist Alexion Pharmaceuticals.
AstraZeneca was highly praised for developing an effective coronavirus vaccine with the University of Oxford, which was sold at cost for a significant period. After this, Soriot received a knighthood for his services in the field of life sciences.
AstraZeneca shares were 0.25 per cent higher at £102.76 on Wednesday afternoon, but are still down around 11 per cent since the start of the year.