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AstraZeneca has placed a roughly $2 billion bet on Summit Therapeutics and its lead candidate, saying the drug could drive a new generation of combination cancer therapies. The announcement comes alongside the opening of a large Cambridge research campus where the company plans to use robotics and advanced AI to speed drug discovery.
Why Summit’s drug is drawing attention
AstraZeneca’s investment and clinical collaboration center on ivonescimab, a first-in-class bispecific antibody that targets two cancer pathways at once: PD-1, an immune checkpoint that dampens T cell activity, and VEGF, which supports tumor blood-vessel growth. By blocking both signals, the therapy simultaneously aims to revive immune attack on tumors and restrict their blood supply.
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Ivonescimab gained global attention after head-to-head clinical testing showed it outperformed Merck’s immunotherapy Keytruda in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer — a result that has increased interest in drugs that combine immune modulation with anti-angiogenic activity.
Soriot told CNBC he sees particular promise in pairing Summit’s agent with AstraZeneca’s portfolio of antibody-drug conjugates, arguing such combinations could treat certain tumor types more effectively than existing PD-1‑only therapies.
Financially, AstraZeneca’s stake amounts to about 12% of Summit. The deal is an equity investment and collaboration rather than an acquisition, leaving Summit with commercial rights to ivonescimab while triggering broader industry interest in similar approaches.
A new R&D campus built around automation and AI
Soriot spoke from AstraZeneca’s new research and development complex in Kendall Square, Cambridge, unveiled by the company on Monday. The site covers about 570,000 square feet and represents more than $1 billion in investment.
The center will focus on next‑generation programs across areas such as obesity, breast cancer, COPD and rare diseases. AstraZeneca says it will deploy robotics, continuous automation and so-called agentic AI to accelerate early-stage discovery and development.
According to Soriot, roughly one-fifth of the site investment is dedicated to robotics and AI. The company expects those tools to shorten timelines and cut costs in preclinical work, enabling faster delivery of new treatments to patients.
“We are on the race against disease,” he told CNBC, emphasizing the aim to increase the speed and yield of R&D so more products reach patients who need them.
