AstraZeneca has entered into an agreement valued at up to $630 million to acquire the remaining rights in China to the CAR-T cell therapy C-CAR031 from AbelZeta Pharma. The transaction builds on a previous licensing arrangement and results in AstraZeneca holding rights to the therapy across all geographic markets.
C-CAR031 is partnered with AbelZeta, which operates in both the United States and China, and the therapy is derived from AstraZeneca’s internally developed GPC3-targeting CAR-T, known as AZD5851. The therapy was created using AstraZeneca’s transforming growth factor-beta receptor II (TGFβRII) dominant negative armoring discovery platform. Armored CAR-T therapies are engineered to express additional proteins alongside the chimeric antigen receptor, a defining feature that differentiates them from other CAR-T approaches.
The collaboration between AstraZeneca and AbelZeta regarding C-CAR031 was first disclosed toward the end of 2023. At that time, the companies announced that AstraZeneca would make an undisclosed upfront payment to secure a 50% share of the therapy’s rights within China. Under that earlier agreement, AstraZeneca already held full rights to C-CAR031 in markets outside China, while AbelZeta retained shared rights in its domestic market.
Two years after the initial agreement, AstraZeneca opted to obtain the remaining China rights, removing the shared structure that had previously applied within that territory. Under the terms of the new deal, AstraZeneca agreed to provide a combination of upfront and milestone payments totaling up to $630 million. The companies did not provide a detailed breakdown of how much of that amount is tied to upfront consideration versus development or regulatory milestones.
Because AstraZeneca already controlled the rights to C-CAR031 outside China, the latest agreement results in the company holding global rights to the GPC3-directed CAR-T therapy. Commenting on the transaction in a Jan. 18 release, AbelZeta Chief Executive Officer Tony (Bizuo) Liu said, “This transaction reflects our commitment to leverage our platform technology to develop novel cell therapies in solid tumors of high unmet medical need, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and provides the opportunity to maximize C-CAR031’s global reach.”
C-CAR031 has been developed for use in hepatocellular carcinoma, a form of liver cancer. In the release, AbelZeta described HCC as one of the most common cancers and identified it as a major cause of cancer-related deaths in China. Clinical testing of the therapy has already been conducted in the country. A first-in-human study carried out in China in 2024 evaluated C-CAR031 in patients with HCC and reported an objective response rate of 56.5% across all dose levels studied. At the highest dose level assessed in that trial, the objective response rate increased to 75%.
The decision by AstraZeneca to secure full ownership of C-CAR031 follows changes to its broader CAR-T portfolio. The company has discontinued development of AZD5851, the CAR-T therapy on which C-CAR031 is based. AZD5851 was among several cell therapy programs that AstraZeneca halted last summer. Before development was ended, AZD5851 had progressed into a phase 1/2 clinical study that enrolled 94 patients with GPC3-positive advanced or recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma.
Under the terms of the agreement, AbelZeta will receive an upfront payment plus development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments totaling up to $630 million in exchange for its 50% share of the China rights. AstraZeneca already held rights outside China, and this acquisition gives the pharmaceutical giant complete control over the future of C-CAR031 worldwide.
AstraZeneca has reached a major strategic milestone by agreeing to acquire the remaining China development and commercialization rights to C-CAR031 in a deal worth up to $630 million. With this agreement, AstraZeneca now holds sole global rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the investigational CAR-T cell therapy, removing regional complexity and streamlining its global strategy.
