AstraZeneca to pay up to $1.5bn for global rights to lung cancer pill

Health Pharma & Biotech Written by: Ian Lyall 03:16 Tue 14 Jul 2026 --> Disclaimer No investment advice About this content Editorial Standards & Policies Share article About this content × About Ian Lyall Ian Lyall, a seasoned journalist and editor, brings over three decades of experience to his role as Managing Editor at Proactive. Overseeing Proactive's editorial and broadcast operations across six offices on three continents, Ian is responsible for quality control, editorial policy, and content production. He directs the creation of 50,000 pieces of real-time news, feature articles, and filmed interviews annually. Prior to Proactive, Ian helped lead the business output at the Daily... Read more About the publisher Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists. Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth. We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors. The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies. Use of technology Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter. Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows. Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation. AstraZeneca PLC ( LSE:AZN NASDAQ:AZN ) View Price & Profile AstraZeneca to pay up to $1.5bn for global rights to lung cancer pill Published: 03:16 14 Jul 2026 EDT AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN, NASDAQ:AZN) has agreed to pay $600 million upfront to secure worldwide rights to a lung cancer pill developed by China's Dizal Pharmaceutical. The Cambridge-based drugmaker could pay a further $900 million if the treatment hits certain development, regulatory and sales targets. Dizal will also receive a share of future global sales. The drug, sold under the brand name Zegfrovy, is a once-daily tablet that treats a common form of lung cancer. It targets non-small cell lung cancer, which accounts for around 80% to 85% of all lung cancer cases. Specifically, it is designed for patients whose tumours carry a genetic fault known as an exon 20 insertion mutation, an error in the DNA that helps drive cancer growth. Such patients have historically had few targeted treatment options. The pill works by blocking a protein called EGFR, which sits on the surface of cells and can fuel the growth of tumours when it malfunctions. Zegfrovy is already approved in the United States and China for patients whose cancer has returned after standard chemotherapy. The deal hands AstraZeneca the rights to sell and further develop the drug everywhere else in the world. Dave Fredrickson, who runs AstraZeneca's oncology business, said the treatment would give patients with limited options a differentiated oral therapy. Xiaolin Zhang, chief executive of Dizal, said the larger partner would help bring the drug, discovered by Chinese scientists, to patients globally. The agreement adds to AstraZeneca's existing stable of lung cancer medicines, which includes its blockbuster tablet Tagrisso. Dizal recently reported positive results from a late-stage trial testing Zegfrovy as a first treatment for newly diagnosed patients, rather than only after chemotherapy has failed. Those findings were presented at a major cancer conference and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. On the strength of that data, applications to expand the drug's approved use have been filed with regulators in both the United States and China. The transaction is expected to complete in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory clearance. AstraZeneca said the deal would not affect its financial guidance for the year. Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, accounting for roughly one in five such deaths. Continue reading