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// COLLABORATIONS M A NUF A C T UR I NG Zelluna reaches milestone Zelluna has developed, scaled and automated its manufacturing process for its TCRNK cell therapies. THE MANUFACTURING process is applicable to any product emerging from the company’s pipeline which means any TCRNK product can be plugged into the established manufacturing process, the company states. “This pivotal achievement not B I G PHARMA AstraZeneca invests USD 2.5 billion in Beijing R&D centre The new global strategic R&D centre is the company’s second in China and sixth worldwide. ASTRAZENECA WILL establish the R&D centre together with major research and manufacturing agreements that will further advance life sciences in China, it states. The investment over the next five years is part of a strategic partnership with the Beijing Municipal Government and the Beijing EconomicTechnological Development Area Administrative Office and includes agreements with three biotechs; Harbour BioMed, Syneron Bio, and BioKangtai, and follows the recent Fibrogen announcement. AstraZeneca expects its Beijing workforce to grow to 1,700 employees. The new centre, AstraZeneca’s second in China following the opening of the Shanghai R&D centre, will advance early-stage research and clinical development and will be enabled by a new AI and data science laboratory. 16 | NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG The new R&D centre will be located near leading biotechs, research hospitals, and the National Medical Products Administration in the Beijing International Pharmaceutical Innovation Park (BioPark). AstraZeneca is also establishing new R&D collaborations in Beijing. This includes a strategic partnership with the Beijing Cancer Hospital in translational research, data science, and clinical development. AstraZeneca is signing two collaboration and licensing agreements; one with Harbour BioMed to discover multi-specific antibodies, and one with Syneron Bio to develop macro-cyclic peptides. In addition, AstraZeneca is launching a new joint venture with BioKangtai, to develop, manufacture, and commercialize innovative vaccines for respiratory and other infectious diseases. NLS only demonstrates our capability to produce high-quality, scalable TCR-NK cell therapies, but also underscores our commitment to advancing next-generation immunotherapies that could transform the treatment of solid tumors and improve patient outcomes,” says Namir Hassan, CEO, Zelluna. Based on the established manufacturing process, hundreds of doses could be produced from a single manufacturing batch highlighting scalability and low cost of goods potential states the company. Zelluna continues to advance its lead TCR-NK cell therapy candidate ZI-MA4-1 in preparation for a filing in the second half of 2025 to begin clinical development targeting a variety of solid tumors. NLS Namir Hassan, CEO, Zelluna PHOTO ASTRAZENECA CHINA PHOTO STIG JARNES