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A siRNA discovery pact where AstraZeneca pays CSPC Pharmaceutical Group just $30 million upfront for two undisclosed kidney-disease candidates, with up to $1.77 billion tied to milestones and sales. It deepens AstraZeneca's growing CSPC alliance across obesity and cardiovascular disease, though both targets and lead assets remain undisclosed.
Cheap, milestone-weighted nephrology discovery option
Full analysis, sources & comparables →AstraZeneca and CSPC Pharmaceutical Group announced (early July 2026) a drug-discovery collaboration to develop nucleic-acid (siRNA) candidates against two undisclosed kidney-disease pathways, combining CSPC's siRNA chemistry with AI-driven molecular design. AstraZeneca pays CSPC USD 30 million upfront, with up to USD 540 million in development milestones and up to USD 1.2 billion in sales-linked payments (up to ~USD 1.77 billion total), plus royalties. AstraZeneca holds global / ex-China licensing options while CSPC retains domestic rights for one asset. The pact extends AstraZeneca's expanding relationship with CSPC across obesity, cardiovascular and chronic disease. (Announcement date reported as July 2-3, 2026.)
Chronic kidney disease affects hundreds of millions worldwide and remains under-served by targeted therapies. The AstraZeneca-CSPC collaboration applies siRNA / nucleic-acid gene silencing and AI-driven design to two undisclosed kidney-disease targets. Candidates are at the discovery/preclinical stage; specific molecules and pathways were not disclosed at signing.
AZ pays CSPC $30M upfront + up to $540M development and up to $1.2B sales milestones for siRNA kidney-disease discovery.
Small upfront, heavily milestone-back-loaded discovery deal that extends AZ's repeat relationship with CSPC into nephrology; early-stage and undisclosed assets keep risk high.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| AstraZeneca PLC / CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. (this deal) | 2026 | $1.8B | 59 |
| AstraZeneca PLC / Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited | 2019 | $6.9B | 100 |
| AstraZeneca PLC / KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Limited | 2005 | $210M | 98 |
| AstraZeneca PLC / Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2020 | $39.0B | 86 |
| AstraZeneca PLC / Acerta Pharma | 2015 | $4.0B | 86 |
| AstraZeneca PLC / Amgen Inc. | 2020 | $2.3B | 84 |
| AstraZeneca PLC / MedImmune Inc. | 2007 | $15.6B | 82 |
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More: 2026 deals · AstraZeneca PLC deals · Nephrology deals