AstraZeneca adds another Chinese asset, from Dizal

AstraZeneca has continued its pipeline-boosting deal spree in China with a $1.5 billion agreement that gives it global rights to Dizal Pharma's lung cancer therapy Zegfrovy.

Zegfrovy (sunvozertinib) – an oral irreversible EGFR inhibitor – is already approved in China and the US as a second-line treatment for adults with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with exon 20 insertion mutations who have previously had platinum-based chemotherapy.

Shares in Shanghai-listed Dizal rose 20% on the announcement, which reveals that AZ is paying $600 million upfront for global development and commercial rights to Zegfrovy, along with additional payments of up to $900 million in development, regulatory and sales-related milestones and royalties on sales.

AZ's move on Zegfrovy follows a crucial readout for Zegfrovy from the WU-KONG28 study, which raises the prospect of moving the drug into first-line treatment of NSCLC with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations – which would be new territory for the multibillion-dollar oral EGFR inhibitor class as a whole.

At the moment, the only drug approved in the frontline setting for this niche category of EGFR-mutated NSCLC is Johnson & Johnson's intravenously administered Rybrevant (amivantamab) in combination with chemo.

In WU-KONG28, Dizal's drug, given as a monotherapy, achieved a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) compared to frontline platinum chemo, offering the prospect of becoming the first oral, once daily, chemo-free, targeted therapy for these patients.

Armed with that data, Dizal has already filed to extend Zegfrovy's indications in China and the US to include first-line use in this form of NSCLC.

Orally-active, tyrosine kinase inhibitor-based EGFR drugs, including AstraZeneca's market-leading Tagrisso (osimertinib), have struggled to show efficacy against this type and are used mainly to treat tumours with exon 19 and 21 mutations. NSCLC driven by exon 20 mutations tend to carry a worse prognosis and shorter survival times.

Other oral drugs are being tested as first-line therapy for NSCLC patients with EGFR exon 20 insertions, including ArriVent Biopharma's furmonertinib, licensed from China's Allist, which is in the phase 3 FURVENT trial.

"AstraZeneca is a leader in treating EGFR-mutated lung cancer, and we are eager to add Zegfrovy to our world-class portfolio of innovative medicines for patients whose tumours carry exon 20 insertion mutations," said Dave Fredrickson, who heads the company's oncology and haematology business unit.

"With this agreement, we will bring a differentiated, oral targeted treatment to these patients with limited options across the globe."

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026.