AstraZeneca buys China CAR-T rights from AbelZeta in $630M deal

AstraZeneca has agreed to pay up to $630 million to acquire its partner's remaining China development and commercialisation rights to C-CAR031, an experimental armoured CAR-T therapy targeting GPC3 surface antigen, giving the company full global control of the programme.

The deal buys out AbelZeta Pharma's 50% China stake and consolidates ownership of a therapy AstraZeneca already controls outside China.

C-CAR031 is an "armoured" CAR-T construct engineered to resist immunosuppressive signals like TGF-beta in the solid tumour microenvironment. The therapy — which is based on AstraZeneca's AZD5851, a GPC3-targeting CAR-T that was scrapped by the UK drugmaker last year — is being developed for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and other solid tumours.

Early clinical data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in 2024 provided initial evidence of antitumour activity. Data from a Phase I study of 22 heavily pretreated patients with GPC3-positive advanced HCC showed a 50% overall response across dose levels, including 11 confirmed partial responses (PR) and one unconfirmed PR. At the highest dose, just over 57% had achieved an objective response, and tumour reductions were observed in nearly 91% of participants, including in metastatic lesions.

The same study showed cytokine release syndrome (CRS) occurred in most patients, but was largely low grade, with only one grade 3 event reported and no neurotoxicity observed. There was one case of grade 4 myelosuppression and another of grade 3 interstitial pneumonitis related to CRS at the highest dose level. All toxicities were reversible.

A Phase I/II trial of C-CAR031 in GPC3-positive advanced or recurrent HCC began enrolling patients in late 2024 and is expected to include 121 participants in China who have progressed or are intolerant to at least two prior lines of systemic therapy.

The move comes as AstraZeneca has started to report early clinical signals across a wider slate of cell-therapy programmes, particularly in blood cancers.

In July, an in vivo BCMA-targeting CAR-T acquired through its EsoBiotec buyout showed responses, including two complete responses, in four heavily pretreated multiple myeloma patients, according to data published in The Lancet. More recently, the company said a dual BCMA- and CD19-targeting CAR-T gained through its Gracell acquisition also yielded positive results in a handful of myeloma patients.