ASTRAZENECA has agreed to purchase Gracell Biotechnologies, a Chinese cancer therapy company that is focused on a type of cancer therapy called CAR-T which aims to modify a patient's cells in order to fight the debilitating disease.
Gracell Biotechnologies will be bought for US$1.2billion and marks another significant investment in cancer treatment for AstraZeneca, which, according to The Guardian, accounts for around a third of its business.
Gracell's CAR-T cell therapy works by extracting disease-fighting white blood cells which are known as T-cells from the cancer patient.
They are then re-engineered to fight cancer and are infused back into the body of the patient.
China is becoming an increasingly important market for the business, which reportedly had previously drafted plans to spin off its business in the region and list it locally.
Susan Galbraith, Executive Vice President, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, said, "the proposed acquisition of Gracell will complement AstraZeneca's existing capabilities and previous investments in cell therapy, where we have established our presence in CAR-T and T-cell receptor therapies (TCR-Ts) in solid tumours".
She added that "GC012F will accelerate our cell therapy strategy in haematology, with the opportunity to bring a potential best-in-class treatment to patients living with blood cancers using a differentiated manufacturing process, as well as exploring the potential for cell therapy to reset the immune response in autoimmune diseases".
Gracell will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca in China and the US. DF
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