AstraZeneca expanded its cardiovascular pipeline this week, signing an exclusive license agreement for CSPC Pharmaceutical Group’s Lp(a) disruptor candidate, YS2302018. The deal comes with a $100M upfront investment that could reach $1.92B depending on further milestones.
- YS2302018 is a small molecule Lipoprotein (a) disruptor intended to treat dyslipidemia patients by preventing the formation of excess blood lipids.
- The Lp(a) disruptor will become part of AstraZeneca’s cholesterol-reduction pipeline, as both a single agent and in combination with the company’s PCSK9 inhibitor (AZD0780).
- The licensing agreement puts AZ in direct competition with Eli Lilly’s Lp(a) disruptor, muvalaplin.
CSPC’s YS2302018 addresses a sizable target market, noting that nearly 70% of patients with CVD aren’t meeting guideline-directed LDL-C targets despite taking high-intensity statins.
- Although there’s no public data on YS2302018, it would be combined with AstraZeneca’s PCSK9i, which achieved a 52% reduction in LDL-C on top of standard-of-care statins in a Phase 1 trial.
- By pairing the PCSK9i with its new Lp(a) disruptor, AZ believes the combined therapy could yield even greater benefits.
This combo approach appears to be a core part of AstraZeneca’s strategy for AZD0780, which is being evaluated in a number of cardiovascular combinations (e.g. with a GLP-1 candidate), and could be worth $5B in the long run.
The Takeaway
While it’s still too early to tell, this PCSK9i + Lp(a) combination is in good hands with AstraZeneca, which has the R&D and commercialization capabilities to fully explore its potential. Given AZ’s efforts with PCSK9i-based combos and ongoing drug developments from the other big pharma companies, the dyslipidemia landscape might look very different in the coming years.
