AstraZeneca to pay up to $2 billion to license cardiovascular drug

By Steve Goldstein

AstraZeneca on Monday said it will pay up to $2 billion to license a cardiovascular drug.

The Anglo-Swedish company (AZN) (UK:AZN) said it will pay $100 million upfront plus up to $1.9 billion in milestone payments to CSPC Pharmaceutical Group (HK:1093) to license a pre-clinical candidate small molecule, to develop as a novel lipid-lowering therapy.

That's meant in particular to treat patients with dyslipidaemia.

The molecule has been shown to effectively prevent the formation of what's Lp(a), a form of low-density lipoprotein that helps transport cholesterol in the blood stream.

In its own release, CSPC said it's eligible to get up to $370 million in potential development milestone payments and up to $1.55 billion in potential sales milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties based on annual sales.

CSPC said the compound was discovered by the Group's AI-driven small molecule drug design platform.

AstraZeneca's London-listed shares slipped 0.2% on Monday but have gained 11% this year. CSPC stock jumped 5% on Monday but is down 2% this year.

-Steve Goldstein

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10-07-24 0458ET

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