That makes the transaction one of the largest yet for a weight-loss-drug collaboration\u2014and among the largest involving a Chinese firm. It outpaces GSK\u2019s $12.5 billion agreement with Shanghai’s Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals in July,<\/a> which was previously the largest licensing deal with a Chinese drugmaker, according to data from consultancy group Evaluate.<\/p>\n Big US and European pharmaceutical firms are increasingly looking to license Chinese assets and develop them for markets outside of Asia. That includes weight-loss programs, which consistently rank among the hottest areas for investment<\/a>. One of last year\u2019s largest start-up launches belonged to Kailera Therapeutics, a US firm backed by $400 million in venture funds that\u2019s based on four drug candidates licensed from Hengrui for weight loss and metabolic conditions<\/a>.<\/p>\n The AstraZeneca-CSPC deal will initially focus on four molecules. The first, a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, is slated to enter human trials shortly, while three others are in the preclinical stage. The two companies will develop the remaining four programs from scratch using CSPC\u2019s once-monthly dosing technology, which it calls LiquidGel.<\/p>\n In 2024, AstraZeneca paid CSPC $100 million up front and promised up to $1.92 billion in milestone payments to license a molecule designed to prevent the formation of lipoprotein(a)<\/a>, a contributor to heart disease. Earlier this week, AstraZeneca announced it would spend $15 billion<\/a> to expand manufacturing and research and development in China, deepening commitments it already made to create innovation centers in Shanghai and Beijing.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of innovation coming out of China,\u201d MPM BioImpact managing partner Christiana Bardon told C&EN during a conversation at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference earlier this month. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot of these new assets flooding early-stage, private [companies] as well as being licensed into later-stage companies.\u201d<\/p>\n
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