**AstraZeneca (AZ) has announced that it will be expanding its cell therapy capabilities by acquiring EsoBiotec for up to $1bn.**
The deal will give AZ access to EsoBiotec’s Engineered NanoBody Lentiviral (ENaBL) platform, which the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said “could offer many more patients access to transformative cell therapy treatments delivered in just minutes rather than the current process which takes weeks”.
Traditional cell therapies involve removing cells from a patient, genetically modifying them outside the body, and then giving them back as a medicine after immune cell depletion.
Meanwhile, ENaBL enables cell therapies to be administered directly within the patient’s body through an intravenous (IV) injection, without the need for immune cell depletion.
The platform uses lentiviruses to deliver genetic instructions to specific immune cells, programming them to recognise and destroy tumour cells for cancer treatment or autoreactive cells for potential use in immune-mediated diseases.
This approach has potential to address many of the constraints associated with traditional cell therapies, reducing complexities and manufacturing timelines, and increasing access for patients, AZ outlined.
Susan Galbraith, executive vice president, oncology haematology research and development, AZ, said: “We are excited about the acquisition of EsoBiotec and the opportunity to rapidly advance their promising in vivo platform.
“We believe it has the potential to transform cell therapy and will enable us to scale these innovative treatments so that many more patients around the world can access them.”
Under the terms of the agreement, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025, AZ will acquire all outstanding equity of EsoBiotec for up to $1bn, comprising an initial payment of $425m and up to $575m in milestones.
Also commenting on the agreement, EsoBiotec’s chief executive officer, Jean-Pierre Latere, said: “We look forward to working with AZ… to advance our shared goal of bringing transformative cost-effective cell therapies to more patients globally.
“By combining our expertise and resources, we can accelerate the development of our in vivo platform which has a novel delivery technology we believe will have broad therapeutic applicability.”