AstraZeneca on Thursday inked a license and option deal with the US offshoot of a Chinese-Dutch company, with an eye to creating antibody-based targeted cancer treatments.
The UK pharma will pay Nona Biosciences $19 million upfront and $10 million in potential near-term milestones for access to an unspecified number of preclinical monoclonal antibodies, according to a release. Nona is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Harbour BioMed (HBM), a drugmaker with headquarters in Cambridge, MA; Rotterdam, Netherlands; and Suzhou, China.
Also at stake are up to $575 million in long-term milestones and tiered royalties on net sales. Nona is further eligible for one-off payments should AstraZeneca exercise its options on additional programs.
HBM Holdings’ share price rose by 11% on the Hong Kong exchange to HKD 1.55 ($0.20) on Thursday morning.
Nona — which is based in Cambridge, MA — was set up in 2022 as a vehicle for partnerships based on HBM’s technology, which it claims is the world’s first transgenic mouse platform dedicated to fully human heavy-chain only antibodies. The antibodies can be used to create bi- and multi-specific antibodies, CAR-T therapies and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
AstraZeneca previously paired up with HBM in 2022, when it licensed the biotech’s preclinical CLDN18.2xCD3 bispecific antibody, HBM7022, in a deal featuring $25 million upfront.
Earlier this week, at an investor day event, CEO Pascal Soriot said AstraZeneca is focusing on new drug technologies such as ADCs and cell therapies because they are less vulnerable to generic competition. Soriot added that he was keen to tap Chinese innovation through dealmaking and the company’s own R&D footprint in the region.
In December, the UK drugmaker bought Suzhou-based Gracell Biotechnologies and its pipeline of CAR-T therapies for $1 billion. In February, AstraZeneca named Shanghai as the location for its fifth global strategic R&D hub.