AstraZeneca buys Chinese Gracell Biotechnologies for $1.2bn

Pharmaceutical giant Astrazeneca with CEO Pascal Soriot wants to take over the Chinese company Gracell Biotechnologies in order to strengthen its cell therapy projects. This was announced by the Swedish-British group on Tuesday. A total of around 1.2 billion US dollars has been earmarked for the purchase.

Gracell Biotechnologies develops cell therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company is to operate in future as a wholly owned subsidiary of Astrazeneca with branches in China and the USA. According to a statement from Astrazeneca the acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and Gracell shareholder approval.

The Chinese biotech’s pipeline is led by GC012F, a BCMA and CD19 dual-targeting autologous CAR-T that is in a phase 1b/2 trial in relapsed refractory multiple myeloma in the US and a trial in China, including refractory systemic lupus erythematosus. GC012F was developed using the company’s FasTCAR platform, which is designed to reduce manufacturing time and enhance T-cell fitness to improve treatment efficacy in patients.