AZN Obesity Pipeline to Get a Boost From Deal With China's CSPC

AstraZeneca AZN announced that it has entered into a new strategic collaboration with China-based CSPC Pharmaceutical to develop several next-generation therapies for obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Under this new deal, AstraZeneca aims to secure exclusive worldwide rights (outside China) to CSPC’s once-monthly injectable weight-management pipeline. This includes one near-clinical asset, SYH2082, a long-acting GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist set to enter phase I study and three other preclinical programs with different mechanisms, all designed to deliver extended therapeutic benefits for patients with obesity and weight-related conditions.

The deal includes eight programs. AstraZeneca and CSPC will initially advance four programs using the latter’s AI-driven peptide drug discovery platform and its proprietary once-monthly LiquidGel technology.

In the past six months, shares of AstraZeneca have rallied 24.4% compared with the industry’s rise of 19.3%.

AZN’s Latest Deal Rationale

The transaction is expected to be closed in the second quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The agreement expands on AZN and CPSC’s existing strategic collaborations.

For the deal, AstraZeneca will make an upfront payment of $1.2 billion to CSPC, with the latter eligible to receive development and regulatory-based milestone payments of up to $3.5 billion across all eight programs. CSPC will also be entitled to receive additional commercialization and sales-based milestone payments, along with tiered royalties on net sales of the product upon potential approval.

CSPC will continue developing the four programs through completion of phase I, along with four new programs. Following this, AstraZeneca will take over further development and commercialization in all regions outside China. CSPC will retain rights in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, with AstraZeneca holding an option to co-commercialize the products in these markets upon potential approval.

AZN to Invest $15B in China

The latest deal with CPSC comes on the heels of AstraZeneca’s landmark $15 billion investment to expand manufacturing and R&D in China through 2030, which the company announced last week. The investment will expand AstraZeneca’s capabilities for drug discovery, development, and manufacturing of the next generation of innovative medicines in China.

The investment supports the delivery of AstraZeneca’s 2030 strategic ambitions. The company targets total revenues of $80 billion by 2030 and plans to launch 20 new medicines by that time, with nine already launched or approved.

AstraZeneca expects several of these medicines to achieve peak annual revenues exceeding $5 billion. The company will continue investing in disruptive innovation, and new technologies and platforms to discover novel medicines.

Competition in the Obesity Space

Eli Lilly LLY and Novo Nordisk NVO presently dominate the obesity market. LLY markets its tirzepatide-based (dual GLP-1/GIP RA) injections, Mounjaro and Zepbound, which compete directly with NVO’s semaglutide-based (GLP-1 RA) injections, Ozempic and Wegovy, for T2D and obesity, respectively. Both companies generate a substantial portion of revenues from their respective cardiometabolic drugs.

Notably, Novo Nordisk launched its oral Wegovy pill last month, while an FDA decision for Lilly’s oral obesity pill is due in the first half of 2026.

Small biotech Viking Therapeutics VKTX is developing its dual GIP/GLP-1 RA, VK2735, both as oral and subcutaneous formulations for the treatment of obesity. Last year, VKTX started two late-stage studies evaluating the subcutaneous formulation of VK2735.

While one of these studies completed enrolment in November 2025 at a rapid pace, Viking Therapeutics expects to complete enrolment in the other study later in 2026.

Several other companies have also tapped into the lucrative obesity space, which has garnered some spotlight over the past year due to the sizable and still underpenetrated market opportunity.

AZN’s Zacks Rank

AstraZeneca currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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