AbelZeta Pharma, the global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has announced that pharma powerhouse AstraZeneca will acquire its 50% stake in the China development and commercialization rights to C-CAR031, giving the latter sole global control over the therapy.

 

Under the deal, AbelZeta stands to receive up to $630 million, including an upfront payment and development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments for the GPC3 program in China.

 

Previously, AstraZeneca already held rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize C-CAR031 outside of China. AbelZeta remains eligible for milestone payments and royalties tied to the therapy’s global development.

 

“This transaction reflects our commitment to leverage our platform technology to develop novel cell therapies in solid tumors of high unmet medical need, including Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and provides the opportunity to maximize C-CAR031's global reach,” said Tony (Bizuo) Liu, Chairman and CEO of AbelZeta.

 

C-CAR031 is an autologous, Glypican 3 (GPC3)-targeting CAR-T therapy engineered with AstraZeneca's dominant negative TGF-beta receptor II armoring platform. It is currently being studied for hepatocellular carcinoma and other solid tumors.