AstraZeneca has agreed to invest $2bn (£1.5bn) in US pharmaceutical group Summit Therapeutics as part of a partnership aimed at accelerating the development of an experimental cancer treatment and exploring new combinations with AstraZeneca’s own medicines.
The investment by the London-listed drugmaker will support the development of ivonescimab, Summit’s experimental treatment designed to target specific proteins involved in cancer growth.
Under the agreement, the companies will collaborate on the development of ivonescimab and investigate whether it can be combined with AstraZeneca’s oncology portfolio, including its antibody-drug conjugate sonesitatug vedotin, known as Sone-Ve.
The first combination trials in gastrointestinal cancers are expected to begin imminently, giving AstraZeneca an opportunity to test whether Summit’s treatment can complement its existing pipeline.
The deal highlights the pharmaceutical industry’s growing reliance on partnerships and large-scale investments to develop the next generation of cancer treatments, particularly as companies seek to expand their pipelines through external research and promising experimental medicines.
Summit shares jumped almost 20 per cent in after-hours trading in New York following the announcement, while AstraZeneca shares rose about 2 per cent in London trading on Tuesday morning.
The companies will each contribute their respective medicines to the planned combination trials and share the costs of those studies.
Both groups will retain development and commercial rights to their respective medicines under the agreement, allowing each company to continue controlling its own treatment while jointly investigating potential combination therapies.
Susan Galbraith, an executive vice-president at AstraZeneca, said the partnership could broaden the potential applications of the company’s oncology portfolio.
“This opportunity to combine ivonescimab with AstraZeneca’s antibody drug conjugates portfolio, including with Sone-Ve, could enable new regimens that raise the bar for patients with cancer across the treatment landscape,” she said.
For Summit, the investment provides significant financial backing as it advances ivonescimab through clinical development while gaining access to AstraZeneca’s expertise and portfolio of cancer medicines.
Dr Maky Zanganeh, president and co-chief executive of Summit Therapeutics, said the agreement represented a significant step for the company.
“The developments announced today with AstraZeneca open an exciting new chapter in the advancement of ivonescimab,” she said.
The partnership comes as major pharmaceutical companies compete to secure promising oncology assets and develop combinations capable of improving treatment outcomes across different forms of cancer.
Ivonescimab is designed to act against specific proteins associated with tumour development, while Sone-Ve belongs to a class of medicines known as antibody-drug conjugates, which are engineered to deliver cancer-killing agents more selectively to tumour cells.
The planned gastrointestinal cancer trials will provide an early test of the collaboration and whether combining the two approaches can produce a meaningful therapeutic benefit.
For AstraZeneca, the $2bn investment represents both a substantial financial commitment and a strategic bet on Summit’s drug candidate. The structure of the deal also allows the UK-based company to participate in development of ivonescimab while retaining its rights to its own medicines.
Investors reacted positively to the announcement, with gains in both companies’ shares reflecting expectations that the partnership could strengthen their respective cancer pipelines.
The success of the venture will ultimately depend on clinical trial results, regulatory decisions and the ability of the treatments to demonstrate benefits for patients.
For now, the agreement gives both companies a route to test a potentially broader cancer-treatment strategy while sharing the costs and risks of clinical development.
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