LONDON, UK: AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) today announced a collaboration and investment agreement with Cellectis (NASDAQ: CLLS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company, to accelerate the development of next-generation therapeutics in areas of high unmet need, including oncology, immunology, and rare diseases.

Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will leverage Cellectis’ proprietary gene editing technologies and manufacturing capabilities to design novel cell and gene therapy products. AstraZeneca has reserved 25 genetic targets from which up to 10 candidate products could be explored for development.

The collaboration builds on AstraZeneca’s own expertise in cell and genomic therapy, which the company has enhanced through several collaborations and investments in the past year.

“The differentiated capabilities Cellectis has in gene editing and manufacturing complement our in-house expertise and investments made in the past year,” said Marc Dunoyer, Chief Strategy Officer, AstraZeneca, and Chief Executive Officer, Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease. “AstraZeneca continues to advance our ambition in cell therapy for oncology and autoimmune diseases as well as in genomic medicine, which has potential to be transformative for patients with rare diseases.”

“We believe AstraZeneca is the perfect match to Cellectis by providing world-class expertise in the development and the commercialisation of innovative medicines,” said André Choulika, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Cellectis. “This collaboration will allow us to leverage our pioneering research in gene editing and cell therapies, as well as our cutting-edge capabilities in manufacturing with the ambition to bring potentially life-saving therapies to patients with unmet medical need.”

Cellectis will receive an initial payment of $105 million from AstraZeneca, which comprises a $25 million upfront cash payment under the terms of a research collaboration agreement and an $80 million equity investment.

The initial equity investment represents an equity stake of approximately 22% in Cellectis. A further $140 million equity investment is expected to close in early 2024, subject to certain conditions. Post-closing of this second investment, AstraZeneca will hold a total equity stake of approximately 44% in Cellectis.

Under the terms of the research collaboration, Cellectis is also eligible to receive an investigational new drug (IND) option fee and development, regulatory, and sales-related milestone payments, ranging from $70 million up to $220 million, per each of the 10 candidate products, plus tiered royalties.

AstraZeneca retains an option for a worldwide exclusive license for the candidate products developed under the research collaboration agreement, to be exercised before IND filing.

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