Astrazeneca strikes exclusive licensing deal with Dizal Pharmaceutical

(Sharecast News) - Drugmaker Astrazeneca said on Tuesday that it has signed an exclusive licensing deal with Dizal Pharmaceutical for Zegfrovy, its nonsmall cell lung cancer treatment, securing global rights to develop and commercialise the drug.

Zegfrovy has already received approval in the US and China for adults with locally advanced or metastatic nonsmall cell lung cancer whose disease has progressed after platinumbased chemotherapy. Around 80-85% of lungcancer patients globally have NSCLC.

Dizal recently reported positive results from its WUKONG28 Phase III trial in firstline NSCLC with exon 20 insertion mutations, with the data presented as a latebreaking oral abstract at the 2026 ASCO annual meeting and published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Supported by those results, a supplemental NDA has been filed with both the US FDA and China's CDE, and the drug has received breakthrough therapy designation in the firstline setting from both regulators.

Under the agreement, Astrazeneca will pay $600m upfront and up to $900m in development, regulatory and salesrelated milestones, with Dizal also receiving tiered royalties on global sales. The transaction was expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to customary approvals, and will not affect Astrazeneca's 2026 financial guidance.

As of 0820 BST, Astrazeneca shares were down 0.56% at 12,540p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

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