(RTTNews) - AstraZeneca (AZN) has agreed to make a $2 billion strategic equity investment in Summit Therapeutics (SMMT) while launching a clinical collaboration aimed at advancing new cancer treatment combinations involving Summit's investigational drug Ivonescimab.
Cancer researchers are increasingly exploring combination therapies that use multiple treatment approaches to improve outcomes for patients. One area of focus is combining antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), which deliver cancer-killing agents directly to tumors, with next-generation immunotherapies.
Under the agreement, AstraZeneca will invest $2 billion in newly issued convertible preferred shares of Summit. The investment is equivalent to a common share price of $18.36, representing a premium to Summit's closing share price on the announcement date.
The companies have also entered into a clinical collaboration to evaluate Ivonescimab in combination with AstraZeneca's sonesitatug vedotin (Sone-Ve), an investigational Claudin 18.2- targeting ADC being studied in gastrointestinal cancers. The partners plan to begin studies in gastrointestinal cancer settings in the near term.
Ivonescimab is an investigational PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody being developed by Summit. The therapy is designed to simultaneously target two pathways involved in cancer growth and immune evasion.
Ivonescimab was engineered by Akeso and is currently being evaluated in multiple Phase 3 studies globally. More than 5,000 patients have received the therapy in clinical studies, and Summit currently sponsors five global Phase 3 trial under its HARMONi development program.
The late-stage program includes HARMONi and HARMONi-3 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLS), HARMONi-7 in the first-line NSCLC patients with high PD-L1 expression, HARMONi-GI3 in metastatic colorectal cancer, and HARMONi-GU1 in urothelial cancer.
Summit is also awaiting a November 14, 2026, PDUFA date for its Biologics License Application based on results from the Phase 3 HARMONi trial in EGFR-mutated NSCLC. Under the collaboration, both companies will contribute their respective medicines and jointly fund the planned studies, while retaining development and commercial rights to their own products.
In addition, AstraZeneca and Summit signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the intention of expanding the collaboration to evaluate Ivonescimab in combination with additional AstraZeneca cancer medicines, including other ADCs.
The companies expect to initiate clinical studies evaluating Ivonescimab in combination with Sone-Ve in gastrointestinal cancers and explore new combination treatment strategies across multiple cancer types.
AZN has traded between $147.38 and $212.71 over the past year. The stock closed Monday's trading at $166.15, down 0.26%. During the overnight trading, the stock is at $166.21, up 0.04%.
Meanwhile, SMMT shares traded higher during overnight trading, rising 19.70% to $18.53.
SMMT has traded between $12.07 and $29.23 over the past year. The stock closed Monday's trading at $15.58, down 0.83%.