Jingye Zhou, Eccogene CEO
November 9, 2023 03:54 AM ESTUpdated 06:32 AM DealsR&D
AstraZeneca puts down $185M upfront for PhI oral GLP-1 as it shoots for next-gen win
Amber Tong
Senior Editor
AstraZeneca has recruited a new star to its budding GLP-1 show, picking up an early-stage oral candidate from China’s Eccogene in a deal featuring $185 million upfront.
While it trails far behind GLP-1 leaders like Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly — which just won an approval for tirzepatide (Zepbound) in weight loss — the company is betting that this oral alternative will become a “best in class” option, both as a monotherapy and in combinations. Like the established players, it will be eyeing type 2 diabetes, weight loss and more.
Sharon Barr
“With the number of people living with cardiometabolic conditions and obesity today already over one billion, there is a need for continued innovation and next-generation therapeutic options,” Sharon Barr, EVP, biopharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, sais in a statement.
The deal was a highlight of AstraZeneca’s third-quarter earnings, with CEO Pascal Soriot touting the potential to offer an “important advance.”
Eccogene’s once-daily molecule, ECC5004, comes with “promising” Phase I data, according to AstraZeneca. It steps in as the only GLP-1 receptor agonist in AstraZeneca’s pipeline after the drugmaker recently scrapped an in-house Phase I program because early results suggest it “does not meet that ambition” of proving better than other assets currently in development or available.
“The way we’re thinking about obesity is, where can we compete, and can we come up with mechanisms or molecules that can differentiate?” Mene Pangalos, Barr’s predecessor, said in a recent interview with Endpoints News.
Mene Pangalos
It is no small claim. The GLP-1 field is booming, with multiple oral molecules vying for a leg up against injectables. Novo already markets an oral form of semaglutide, Rybelsus, for type 2 diabetes; Eli Lilly has begun recruiting for Phase III studies of its own compound; Pfizer’s pick is in Phase IIb with plans to move into Phase III; and smaller players, such as Structure Therapeutics and Carmot Therapeutics, are also looking to catch up.
Eccogene is led by former Lilly staffers who worked in the Big Pharma’s China unit, and in June, it raised $25 million in a Series B.
AstraZeneca also has a weekly GLP-1/glucagon dual agonist, AZD9550, that it is developing for NASH; it had discarded a once-daily candidate with the same mechanism that was more advanced. For obesity and related comorbidities, it is developing a long-acting amylin analog called AZD6234. Both programs are in Phase I healthy volunteer studies, with data expected in the first half of 2023, according to its most up-to-date pipeline.
Under the Eccogene deal, which carries $1.825 billion in milestones, AstraZeneca has licensed exclusive rights to ECC5004 in all territories outside of China — where Eccogene may still co-develop and co-commercialize the drug.
AUTHOR
Amber Tong
Senior Editor
[email protected]
@AmberTongPW
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