AstraZeneca taps Chinese biotech in $5.2bn chronic disease research deal
AstraZeneca has joined the long list of big pharma companies enlisting the services of Chinese biotechs, signing a deal worth up to $5.2bn with CSPC Pharmaceuticals to research chronic disease drug candidates.
Under the deal, AstraZeneca will pay an upfront fee of $110m, along with milestone payments of $1.62bn. CSPC are also in line to receive $3.6bn in sales milestone payments.
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AstraZeneca and CSPC will discover and develop pre-clinical candidates for multiple targets, which, according to the companies, will have the “potential to treat diseases across chronic indications, including a pre-clinical small molecule oral therapy for immunological diseases”.
CSPC will use its AI-powered drug discovery platform, which uses the technology to analyse the binding patterns of target proteins with existing compound molecules. The AI models work out targeted optimisation, advancing small molecules with the best developability.
For any candidates identified via the research partnership, AstraZeneca will have the right to exercise options for exclusive licences to develop and commercialise candidates worldwide.
AstraZeneca’s executive vice president and biopharmaceuticals R&D head Sharon Barr said: “This strategic research collaboration underscores our commitment to innovation to tackle chronic diseases, which impact over two billion people globally.
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By GlobalData“Forming strong collaborations allows us to leverage our complementary scientific expertise to support the rapid discovery of high-quality novel therapeutic molecules to deliver the next-generation medicines.”
The partnership marks the second time this year AstraZeneca has invested resources in China. In March 2025, the drugmaker revealed plans to infuse $2.5bn over the next five years in Beijing to establish an R&D hub.
Big pharma’s blossoming China relationship
China is enjoying a fruitful alliance with Western big pharma companies, despite a frosty relationship with US President Trump’s administration, mainly due to the BIOSECURE ACT, which is admittedly now in legislative limbo.
Licensing deals between US and Chinese biopharma companies hit record highs last year, up 280% from 2020, according to analysis by GlobalData.
Across big pharma, transactions rose 66% from $16.6bn in 2023 to $41.5bn in 2024, demonstrating that China is still the go-to place to discover pipeline candidates. For deals specific to US companies, the analysis found that total deal value rose from $15.7bn in 2023 to $21.3bn in 2024.
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
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