Summit soars after $2 billion investment from AstraZeneca for cancer therapies
SMMT•Summit Therapeutics shares rose 23% in premarket trading after it said AstraZeneca would invest $2 billion to test cancer treatments together. The companies will test AstraZeneca’s sonesitatug vedotin with Summit’s ivonescimab for certain gastrointestinal cancers.
1. Cancer drug collaboration
The companies will begin testing AstraZeneca’s experimental cancer treatment, sonesitatug vedotin, in combination with Summit’s ivonescimab for certain gastrointestinal cancers. Each company will retain development and commercial rights to its respective drug.
2. Further trials planned
The companies also intend to enter an agreement to conduct clinical trials combining ivonescimab with multiple AstraZeneca cancer medicines. Summit’s ivonescimab blocks PD-1 and VEGF, proteins involved in cancer’s ability to evade the immune system and grow blood vessels.
3. Analysts assess deal
Evercore ISI analyst Cory Kasimov called the investment a validating buy-in and a cash infusion for Summit. Barclays analyst James Gordon said the deal gives AstraZeneca access to a VEGF bispecific mechanism; Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Eric Schmidt said the capital and clinical capabilities would enable Summit to move faster.
