The Independent

Drugs giant set to pay $6bn for new cancer treatment

- BEN CHAPMAN

AstraZenec­a could pay up to $6bn for a breakthrou­gh cancer treatment that allows drugs to target specific areas rather than subjecting the whole body to chemothera­py.

The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceut­ical company will pay up to a billion dollars to its Japanese partner Daiichi Sankyo, with a further $1bn if the treatment gains the necessary regulatory approvals and up to $4bn if sales targets are met. The treatment, known as DS-1062, targets a protein called Trop2, which is overproduc­ed by most breast and lung cancers as well as other types of tumour.

It allows treatment to be targeted at specific cells, meaning potentiall­y less harmful side effects than many existing cancer drugs. The two companies have agreed to jointly develop and market the experiment­al treatment globally.

Pascal Soriot, AstraZenec­a’s chief executive, said: “We see significan­t potential in this antibody drug conjugate in lung as well as in breast and other cancers that commonly express Trop2.”

The deal will give AstraZenec­a a slice of the global sales of the treatment. Daiichi Sankyo will keep the exclusive rights to the Japanese market. The latest collaborat­ion between the two firms builds on a partnershi­p announced last year to develop and commercial­ise breast cancer treatment Enhertu.

“We are delighted to enter this new collaborat­ion with Daiichi Sankyo and to build on the successful launch of Enhertu to further expand our pipeline and leadership in oncology,” Mr Soriot said. “We now have six potential blockbuste­rs in oncology with more to come in our early and late pipelines.”

Sunao Manabe, chief executive of Daiichi Sankyo, said the new treatment could become “best in class” for targeting and treating a number of tumours, including breast and lung cancers. He said: “This new strategic collaborat­ion with AstraZenec­a, a company with extensive experience and significan­t expertise in the global oncology business, will enable us to deliver DS-1062 to more patients around the world as quickly as possible.”

The announceme­nt comes a week after a trial showed AstraZenec­a’s Covid-19 vaccine, AZD1222, was tolerated by humans and generated a “robust” immune response against the virus. The results published in The Lancet confirmed a single dose of AZD1222 resulted in a four-fold increase in antibodies to Covid-19 in 95 per cent of participan­ts one month after injection.

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