AstraZeneca expands cell therapy goals with EsoBiotec acquisition
AstraZeneca (Cambridge, UK) has announced the acquisition of EsoBiotec (Charleroi, Belgium), a biotech firm pioneering in vivo cell therapies.
AstraZeneca has agreed to acquire EsoBiotec, a leading biotechnology company specializing in in vivo cell therapies. The deal, valued at up to $1 billion, includes the company’s proprietary Engineered NanoBody Lentiviral (ENaBL) platform, which could significantly enhance access to cell therapy treatments. The acquisition aligns with AstraZeneca’s strategy to expand its presence in oncology and immune-mediated disease treatments.
You may also be interested in:
- Three heads are better than one: OpenAI, Formation Bio and Sanofi collaborate to advance drug development
- Ardena meets the growing demand for bioanalytical testing services
- SCIEX announce new MS technologies and a biotech partnership
Traditional cell therapies require complex procedures, including extracting immune cells from a patient, modifying them externally and reinfusing them after immune cell depletion. Needless to say, this lengthy process limits patient access to cell therapies and increases costs. EsoBiotec’s ENaBL platform aims to solve these challenges by engineering immune cells directly inside the body through a simple intravenous injection.
The technology uses lentiviruses to deliver genetic instructions to immune cells, enabling them to target and eliminate cancerous or autoreactive cells. This innovative in vivo approach could drastically reduce the time and resources needed for cell therapy treatments, increasing patient accessibility.
This deal reinforces AstraZeneca’s commitment to redefining and advancing next-generation cell therapies, potentially making transformative treatments more efficient and accessible. The ENaBL platform could lead to breakthroughs in cancer and immune disease therapies, shaping the future of precision medicine. With EsoBiotec’s expertise, AstraZeneca aims to scale innovative treatments and improve global patient access.
“We look forward to working with AstraZeneca, a global leader in drug development, to advance our shared goal of bringing transformative, cost-effective cell therapies to more patients globally. By combining our expertise and resources, we can accelerate the development of our in vivo platform, which has a novel delivery technology we believe will have broad therapeutic applicability,” commented Jean-Pierre Latere, CEO of EsoBiotec.
