AZ takes stake in Summit Therapeutics in $2bn deal
AstraZeneca has taken a roughly 10% stake in Summit Therapeutics, signing an agreement to investigate combinations of their cancer drugs.
AZ's $2 billion investment – at $18.36 per share – puts the UK-headquartered company in the driving seat to pair its therapies with Summit's keenly anticipated PD-1xVEGF bispecific antibody ivonescimab, which has been tipped as a multibillion-dollar blockbuster and was originated by China's Akeso.
Ivonescimab is already approved in China for three non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) indications, where Akeso retains rights, and has also generated promising clinical trial results in other solid tumours, including small cell lung cancer (SCLC), biliary tract, gastroesophageal, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers.
The new relationship paves the way for testing of ivonescimab in combination with AZ's potentially first-in-class CLDN18.2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), sonesitatug vedotin (sone-ve), which is being developed for gastrointestinal cancers.
In the summer, AZ reported positive survival data from the phase 3 CLARITY-Gastric01 trial of sone-ve in locally advanced or metastatic, CLDN18.2-positive GI cancers, when the ADC was used as second- or third-line therapy. AZ said the results suggest sone-ve could replace classic chemotherapy in this type of cancer.
AZ and Summit have also said they intend to expand the partnership to cover studies of ivonescimab with other AZ cancer drugs, including ADCs, with the companies sharing development costs and retaining the commercial rights to their respective medicines. Summit has rights to the drug in major global territories outside of China.
AZ's current ADCs include HER2-directed Enhertu (trastuzumab) for breast, gastric, and lung cancers, and TROP2-targeting Datroway (datopotamab deruxtecan) for breast and lung cancers.
"A core pillar of our oncology strategy is to broaden the reach of our ADC portfolio as the backbone of treatment across tumour types with combinations alongside next-generation immunotherapies," said AZ's head of oncology and haematology R&D, Susan Galbraith.
Shores up Summit finances
The new agreement comes after speculation about how long Summit could continue to fund its ambitious development programme for ivonescimab, given that it ended the first half with around $691 million in cash reserves and has been spending upwards of $150 million a quarter on operations.
In July, Summit warned that it was likely to burn through its cash within a year unless it raised additional financing, and analysts suggest that, at its current burn rate, the new investment could fund operations for up to four years.
Summit's co-CEO Maky Zanganeh said the alliance with AZ opens "an exciting new chapter in the advancement of ivonescimab" and raises the possibility of bringing together "complementary approaches to tumour cell killing, antitumor immunity, and the tumour microenvironment."
