AstraZeneca Plc is discussing a partnership deal with Summit Therapeutics Inc. in which it could pay as much as $15 billion over time to license a lung-cancer drug, according to people familiar with the matter.
The companies have been holdings talks regarding the potential partnership over Summit’s ivonescimab treatment, the people said, asking not to be identified because that matter is private. Summit has also held discussions with other major pharmaceutical firms, the people said.
Terms are still being ironed out, but the consideration could include a several billion dollar upfront payment and several milestone payments that Summit could receive later, some of the people said. Talks could still fall apart or Summit could opt for a different partner, the people said.
A representative for AstraZeneca declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Summit didn’t respond to requests for comment.
If AstraZeneca’s talks are successful, it would be a second multibillion-dollar licensing deal since the start of June. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said last month it would pay BioNTech SE as much as $11.1 billion to license a next-generation cancer drug. BioNTech SE has a similar type of treatment as Summit.
With a market value of $17.4 billion, Summit is controlled by Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer Bob Duggan, who owns an almost 75% stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In 2015, Duggan, then CEO of Pharmacyclics Inc., sold that company to Abbvie Inc. for $21 billion. Duggan personally gained more than $3 billion from the sale, Bloomberg News has reported.
Summit sparked an industry frenzy around a new type of cancer treatment when it partnered with Chinese biotech Akeso Inc. on the drug that combines two existing approaches to treating cancer.
A message from Advisor Perspectives and VettaFi: To learn more about this and other topics, check out some of our webcasts.
Bloomberg News provided this article. For more articles like this please visit
bloomberg.com.
Read more articles by Michelle Davis, Dinesh Nair
