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Full analysis, sources & comparables →AstraZeneca is paying $425 million up front to acquire Esobiotec S.A., a Belgian company that has generated early clinical evidence in China for an in vivo…
AstraZeneca said Monday that it has agreed to acquire a cell therapy biotech founded just four years ago for an upfront payment of $425 million. The British…
AstraZeneca plc has agreed to pay up to $1 billion to acquire privately held EsoBiotec SA, a Belgian biotech developing in vivo CAR-T therapies. The…
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AstraZeneca acquired Belgian biotech EsoBiotec for up to $1B ($425M upfront + $575M in development/regulatory milestones, cash- and debt-free), announced 17 Mar 2025 and completed 20 May 2025. The deal brings EsoBiotec's ENaBL (Engineered NanoBody Lentiviral) platform for in vivo CAR-T, which uses a nanobody-targeted, immune-shielded lentiviral vector to reprogram T cells inside the patient in a single IV infusion, avoiding leukapheresis, ex vivo manufacturing and lymphodepleting chemotherapy. Lead asset ESO-T01 (anti-BCMA) was tested in an investigator-initiated Phase 1 study in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma in Wuhan, China. Published in Nature Medicine (2026), the 5-patient readout showed 4 of 5 objective responses including 3 stringent complete remissions at a median ~6-month follow-up. However, all patients experienced grade 3 or higher serious adverse events and one patient died (attributed by investigators to disease progression / spinal-cord compression, with timing near peak CAR-T expansion); the trial was stopped early in 2025 with no further enrollment. The data establish proof-of-concept for in vivo CAR-T generation while underscoring tolerability questions AstraZeneca must resolve as it advances the platform.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| AstraZeneca PLC / EsoBiotec SA (this deal) | 2025 | $1.0B | — |
| 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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