AstraZeneca to pay up to 1bn dollars for Belgian cell therapy firm
British pharma group AstraZeneca will pay up to 1 billion dollars, or 917 million euros, for the Belgian biotech company EsoBiotec. EsoBiotec, based in Mont-Saint-Guibert in Walloon Brabant, is developing immunotherapies to treat cancer.
AstraZeneca will make an initial payment of 425 million dollars upon completion of the deal, expected in the second quarter of this year, while payment of the remaining 575 million dollars depends on the further development of EsoBiotec's technology and market approvals.
EsoBiotec, founded in 2020, develops immunotherapies to treat cancer. It has created the so-called ENaBL platform, which uses highly targeted lentiviruses to deliver genetic instructions to specific immune cells, such as T cells, in the body. Cell therapy can thus be administered through an injection into a vein, eliminating the need to take the cells out of the body to genetically modify them and then administer them again.
According to EsoBiotec, its technology can make cell therapy easier, faster and more accessible. With its solutions, treatment can be delivered “in minutes” instead of “weeks”, declares the company. According to its website, a treatment against multiple myeloma – a type of bone marrow cancer – is at the clinical stage of research. Besides cancer treatment, the company also sees potential for treating autoimmune diseases.
In their announcement, both companies underline that “promising early clinical activity” has already been demonstrated. According to Jean-Pierre Latere, EsoBiotec's CEO, the therapies will be optimised faster with AstraZeneca's support.
Current shareholders of EsoBiotec include Belgian pharma group UCB, Walloon public investment companies Wallonie Entreprendre and SambrInvest and the private-public investment firm Investsud.
Illustration © BELGA PHOTO PRESSASSOCIATION
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