CinCor Pharma, Inc.

Dyslipidemia, a condition involving unhealthy levels of cholesterols and other fats in the blood, is a major risk factor in cardiovascular diseases, which make up the world’s biggest killer with 17.9 million deaths ​ per year. While there are treatments for dyslipidemia, they are not sufficient to control the blood levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or ‘bad cholesterol,’ in many patients. The oral drug developed by CSPC is designed to prevent the production of a low-density lipoprotein called lipoprotein (a), which is involved in the transport of cholesterol in the bloodstream. By doing this, it may treat and prevent a range of cardiovascular diseases as a monotherapy or in combination with another small molecule candidate by AstraZeneca’s that depletes low-density lipoproteins by blocking an enzyme called PCSK9. According to the deal terms, CSPC is eligible for $100 million upfront in addition to up to $1.92 billion in payments based on development and commercialization milestones, plus tiered royalties. Sharon Barr, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president and head of biopharmaceuticals R&D stated ​ that the asset “could help patients to more effectively manage their dyslipidemia and related cardiometabolic diseases. Given the scale of unmet need, with cardiovascular disease being a leading cause of death globally, advancing novel therapies that can be used alone or in combination to effectively address known risk factors and advance patient care is particularly important and a key part of our strategy.” googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display('text-ad1'); }); The global market for cardiovascular disease treatments was worth a massive $144 billion in 2023 ​ and is projected to grow by 4% per year to $208 billion by 2030. The market growth is being fuelled by increasingly sedentary lifestyles across the population, leading to higher prevalences of cardiovascular diseases in both young and old people. This is the latest deal showcasing major interest from big pharma companies in cardiovascular disease treatments. AstraZeneca kicked off 2023 with a $1.8 billion takeover of the U.S. drug developer CinCor. Other examples include Novo Nordisk’s takeover of the German player Cardior Pharmaceuticals for up to €1 billion ($1.1 billion) in March this year and Bayer acquiring the European marketing rights to a small molecule cardiovascular disease treatment from Eidos Therapeutics of the U.S. for up to $310 million upfront in the same month. AstraZeneca also has major interest in the field of obesity, having inked another $2 billion licensing deal with China’s Eccogene last year for global rights to the latter’s oral once-daily glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist.

AstraZeneca is strengthening its cardiovascular disease pipeline with a $100 million upfront deal for a lipid-targeting drug from China’s CSPC Pharmaceutical Group. The UK drugmaker will get the rights to a small molecule lipoprotein(a) disruptor that’s in preclinical development. The candidate, YS2302018, can stop the formation of a lipid that plays a key role in transporting cholesterol in the bloodstream. CSPC could get up to $1.92 billion in milestones as well as tiered royalties on sales, according to an AstraZeneca press release . The company said the drug can be combined with others in its pipeline, including the small molecule PCSK9 inhibitor AZD0780. That candidate is currently in Phase 2 for dyslipidemia, which refers to a basket of diseases characterized by abnormal levels of lipids. Cardiovascular, renal and metabolic disease has been an important area of growth for AstraZeneca in recent years, with the drugmaker investing in external innovation. In November, the company put down $185 million upfront to license an oral GLP-1 agonist from China’s Eccogene. At the start of 2023, it acquired CinCor Pharma and its hypertension drug candidate, baxdrostat, for $1.8 billion . The drugmaker has also been looking more to China for assets, running counter to what some US peer companies have done. At an investor day event in May, CEO Pascal Soriot said innovation has “exploded” in the country and reiterated AstraZeneca’s commitment to tapping said innovation. His comments came in spite of heightened tensions between the US and China, which came to a head last month with the passing of the Biosecure Act. During the company’s most recent earnings call, Soriot said AstraZeneca aims to treat cardiovascular diseases “holistically,” instead of just focusing on weight loss. The company has said combination approaches will be a key part of that strategy. Other noteworthy players working on next-generation cholesterol treatments include Verve Therapeutics, which is advancing a base editing therapy for heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Eli Lilly, meanwhile, has a small molecule lp(a) formation inhibitor, muvalaplin, in Phase 2 development. Novartis is also developing a Phase 3 lp(a) targeting antisense therapy that it licensed from Ionis Pharmaceuticals called pelacarsen.

作为国际顶尖的医药公司，阿斯利康在全球范围内积极布局，尤为关注肿瘤、慢性病和罕见病三大核心领域。目前，阿斯利康在全球肿瘤领域已经勇立潮头，多个创新前沿疗法成果亮眼；在慢性病和罕见病领域，以全球领先的科学领导力为基石，内部创新和外部合作的进一步的突破也引人注目。 仅2023年，阿斯利康在慢性病领域便与Quell Therapeutics公司达成金额超过20亿美元的独家合作，开发多种Treg细胞疗法，并以约18亿美元收购CinCor公司，加强阿斯利康心血管和肾脏疾病领域的在研新药产品管线，以及开创性治疗难治型高血压和慢性肾病的方案。此外，在基因治疗罕见病领域，阿斯利康于2023年以10亿美元的价码收购了来自辉瑞的基因治疗产品组合。在临床管线方面，阿斯利康全球慢性病临床管线有超过50个项目，罕见病领域有20个项目，新产品数目可观。到2030年，阿斯利康的宏伟愿景是为全球患者提供超过20款的创新药物，其中也包括了多款慢性病和罕见病创新药物。 随着中国创新力量的不断成长跟崛起，阿斯利康对中国医药研发生态圈，特别是中国细胞治疗和基因治疗等新兴领域，兴趣颇丰。近几年来，全球研发高管频繁到访中国，迅速促成和决定了多项合作，相关协议金额超过65亿美金。自2022年开始，在各疾病领域全球研发负责人的大力支持下，阿斯利康全球研发中国中心设立了中国研发日活动，提供了一个重要的交流平台，了解中国相关疾病领域的最新科学进展、生物科技的最新突破，寻求合作机会。 作为阿斯利康全球研发和中国创新力量交流的重要平台之一，“阿斯利康中国研发日”自2022年推出至今，已连续举办五次。自2023年开始，研发日分别聚焦肿瘤、慢性病和罕见病，在上半年和下半年举办。本次“阿斯利康中国研发日”慢性病和罕见病专场，延续阿斯利康全球研发管理层对中国创新和中国研发日的重视，由阿斯利康全球执行副总裁、生物制药全球研发负责人Sharon Barr，全球高级副总裁、罕见病药物研究及产品开发负责人Seng Cheng，罕见病药物临床开发、注册及患者安全负责人 Gianluca Pirozzi带领近二十位全球研发高管，亲临现场，与来自中国科研机构、临床研究中心、海外高校及生物创新公司的近五十位领军人物，聚焦细胞治疗、基因治疗、高血压、肾病、感染性疾病、支气管疾病、患者关爱等主题，吸引了现场及线上上万人的关注。 首次现场参加研发日的阿斯利康全球执行副总裁、生物制药研发负责人 Sharon Barr表示：现场参与研发日为我提供了一个宝贵机会，能够与众多专家就慢性病、前沿科学和新兴生物学等广泛话题，进行深入讨论并探索合作机遇。2023年，我们与中国本土创新企业达成了多项全球协议，并收购了中国领先的细胞治疗公司亘喜生物。未来，中国将继续在全球医药行业扮演关键角色，带来更多突破性疗法，重塑全球患者生命轨迹。” 阿斯利康全球高级副总裁、罕见病药物研究及产品开发负责人Seng H. Cheng提到：“在全力推进罕见病研究的过程中，我们注意到中国在包括基因治疗和细胞治疗等新兴领域所表现出的潜力引人瞩目，并有望帮助改变治疗格局。阿斯利康中国研发日是一个促进科学交流的平台，通过这样的平台我们能够与中国各地的科学家深入交流、探索新机遇，进一步推进我们的研究工作，改善罕见病患者的生活。” 近几年来，中国在阿斯利康全球研发的版图上，占据了越来越重要的作用。自2019年起，中国研发中心已经连升两级，成为与英国剑桥、美国盖瑟斯堡、瑞士哥德堡、美国波士顿并列的五大全球战略研发中心之一，在加速和引领全球新药研发、连接和融合中国创新等战略领域，发挥更重要的作用。 阿斯利康全球高级副总裁，全球研发中心负责人何静表示：”过去几年，我们通过不同的平台和多维度的交流，不断加深与临床研究中心、科研院所、生物科技公司各方多个领域的合作，在对疾病机制的了解、早期研发、转化医学、以及引进中国生物科技创新技术、创新管线等领域，都取得了有目共睹的进展。未来我们将持续通过阿斯利康中国研发日及多个渠道，进一步提升自身研发能力，促进外部合作，持续发掘中国机遇，推动中国创新走向全球舞台，惠及全球患者！” 内容来源于网络，如有侵权，请联系删除。