Dive Brief:
- AstraZeneca has cut a deal with Inovio Pharmaceuticals for rights to an experimental immune system medicine.
- The deal, AZ's third in a week involving cancer drugs, will give Inovia $27.5 million now and up to $700 million in future payments.
- Inovio's immunotherapy is designed to treat some cancers caused by HPV.
Dive Insight:
AZ clearly is seeing business opportunities in the cancer drug pipeline, and it intends to study the drug, currently in Phase I and Phase II trials for cervical, head and neck cancers, in combination with other drugs.
AZ also has signed recent immuno-oncology deals with Mirati and Heptares.