By VETTAPHARMA reporter: Rockville, Md. & Shanghai — AbelZeta Pharma, Inc. announced that AstraZeneca has agreed to acquire the company’s remaining 50% share of the China development and commercialization rights to its armored CAR-T therapy candidate C-CAR031. With this transaction, AstraZeneca will hold the sole global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize the GPC3-targeted therapy worldwide.
Under the terms of the agreement, AbelZeta is entitled to receive up to $630 million from AstraZeneca, including an upfront payment as well as development, regulatory and sales milestone payments tied to the GPC3 program in China.
AstraZeneca already held rights to C-CAR031 outside of China through a prior agreement. AbelZeta remains eligible for additional milestone payments and royalties related to development outside of China.
C-CAR031 is an autologous chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy targeting glypican-3 (GPC3) and is engineered using AstraZeneca’s dominant negative transforming growth factor-beta receptor II armoring platform. The therapy is currently under investigation for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and other solid tumors.
According to AbelZeta’s announcement, this deal highlights the companies’ commitment to advancing novel cell therapies for solid tumors with high unmet medical needs and expands the global reach of C-CAR031 as a potential treatment option.
Source credit:
AbelZeta Pharma, Inc. (2026, January 18). AbelZeta announces remaining China rights to GPC3 armored CAR-T therapy to be acquired by AstraZeneca. Click here
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