CSPC Pharma (1093.HK): Collaboration expansion with AZ on siRNA

Research evidence excerpt

CSPC Pharma (1093.HK): Collaboration expansion with AZ on siRNA

Equity Research

2 July 2026 | 11:04PM HKT

A new AI-enabled siRNA collaboration with AZ: CSPC entered into a collaboration Ziyi Chen

+852-2978-0526 | ziyi.chen@gs.com

with AstraZeneca to jointly discover and develop novel small nucleic acid Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C.

therapeutics for renal diseases using its proprietary siRNA discovery and Honglin Yan

extrahepatic delivery platforms. The platforms incorporate AI-driven molecular +852-2978-6666Goldman Sachs (Asia)| honglin.yan@gs.comL.L.C.

design and automated high-throughput screening technologies to identify nucleic

acid candidates with enhanced activity and extrahepatic targeting potential. Under

the agreement, the parties will jointly develop two PCC programs, with AstraZeneca

receiving options to obtain global or ex-China rights, while CSPC retains China rights

for one program. CSPC will receive US$30mn upfront, with potential milestone

payments of up to US$1.74bn and additional single-digit royalties. This transaction

further extends AstraZeneca’s multi-year collaboration with CSPC across multiple

technology platforms, including AI-enabled drug discovery, cardiometabolic

diseases and obesity.

Another validation of CSPC’s AI-enabled discovery engine and siRNA platform:

While the headline economics are smaller than the AZ deal on GLP-1 (US$1.2bn

upfront and up to US$17.3bn milestones), we view this deal as strategically

important because it validates a different pillar of CSPC’s innovation platform. This

deal highlights CSPC’s AI-enabled siRNA discovery capability and extrahepatic

delivery technologies, areas that are increasingly viewed as key bottlenecks for

next-generation RNA therapeutics. We see AstraZeneca’s willingness to enter