Next generation therapeutics

Creating the next generation of therapeutics

We are constantly pushing the boundaries of science to deliver medicines that will have the greatest impact on disease. The breadth and novelty in our early pipeline is exemplified by the increased number of new modalities entering clinical development across our main therapy areas: Oncology, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism, Respiratory and Immunology, Vaccines and Immune Therapies, and Rare Diseases.

Selecting the right target remains the most important decision we make in the drug discovery process. Once we identify a target, we can now select from a toolbox of therapeutic approaches to develop better, more advanced and more effective treatments for patients.

The technological toolbox fuelling our next-generation pipeline

Biologics

We are leveraging a diverse range of biomolecule modalities to target cells and proteins in the body with the potential for exceptional accuracy, potency, and affinity. Our biologics platforms aim to create first or best-in-class antibody, peptide and protein therapeutics that address areas of high unmet medical need – including for the treatment of cancers and immune-related disorders.

Combining the power of small molecule agents with the precision of antibodies, these targeted therapeutics have the potential to redefine chemotherapy regimens as we know them.

Radioconjugates are a novel drug modality that delivers radiation directly to cancer cells. Here we explain their mechanism of action and implications for targeted radiotherapy in cancer.

Multispecific antibodies are novel drug modalities that can bind simultaneously to two or more target proteins or bridge two different cells, to elicit a therapeutic effect to treat cancer and other diseases.

Unique in their ability to bind two targets at the same time, bispecific antibodies offer many possible combinations of therapeutics and have the potential to improve target specificity and outcomes.

As a novel type of multispecific antibody, T-cell engagers redirect the immune system’s T-cells to target diseased cells.

Through our long-established expertise in protein engineering, we are advancing both conventional and novel classes of protein and peptide therapies against new and challenging disease targets.

Well-known for their specificity and selectivity, we are harnessing our extensive antibody discovery and protein engineering platforms to create monoclonal and fragment antibodies for therapeutic applications.

Cell therapies

We are developing innovative cell therapies across different disease areas. Advances in our understanding of the immune system are informing our cell therapy portfolio across a range of tumour types in oncology, and across a wide range of immune-mediated diseases. Our goal in oncology is to develop cell therapies that empower and equip the immune system’s T cells to more effectively target cancer through next-generation T cell therapies, including chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies (CAR-Ts) and T cell receptor therapies (TCR-Ts). In immunology, we are developing cell therapies to target T-cell dysfunction, stabilising and resetting T-regulatory cells. In B-cell driven diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), we are harnessing the body’s own immune system to transform the treatment of refractory patients who have failed multiple therapies.

As a promising and rapidly advancing field, cell therapy has the potential to transform medicine across disease areas where significant need exists.

Genomic medicines

Recent advances in genomics have transformed drug discovery and clinical research towards precision medicine. This has created the opportunity to target the genetic drivers of rare and chronic disease to alter the course of disease and enable long-lasting treatment. We are exploring a number of nucleotide-based modalities from oligonucleotides and RNA-based therapies as well as using CRISPR/Cas9 and adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) as therapeutic tools.

We are exploring the potential of gene therapy to modify and even cure disease by editing the genes responsible for causing illness.

Nucleotide-based therapies have tremendous potential to enable long-lasting treatment with a precision medicine approach, by modulating cellular pathways in ways not previously possible.

Bringing together our knowledge of biologics discovery and development with gene editing, in vivo expressed biologics have the potential to stimulate tissues to produce biologics in a person’s own body and could transform how we treat infectious diseases.

Small molecules and PROTACs

We have a long history of discovering and developing orally delivered small molecule medicines by harnessing innovative approaches to drug design and delivery. By combining our unique range of knowledge, skills and experience across multiple disciplines, we are constantly advancing our capabilities to create new potential therapies for the future.

Small molecules have been a mainstay of pharmaceuticals for nearly a century, and we continue to innovate their discovery and development through approaches including machine learning, AI, and novel chemistry methods.

By targeting unwanted or harmful proteins in cells with high specificity, PROTACs or PROteolysis Targeting Chimeras and molecular glues have the potential to target previously ‘undruggable’ proteins through their unique mode of action.

Meet some of our pioneers of next generation therapeutics

Behind every scientific advancement is a team of dedicated scientists. Find out more about some of our researchers leading us through the cutting-edge of drug discovery:

Puja Sapra

Senior Vice President, Biologics Engineering & Oncology Targeted Delivery, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca

Matt Hellmann

Vice President, Early Oncology Development, AstraZeneca

Malin Lemurell

Executive Director and Head of Medicinal Chemistry, Research and Early Development, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca