AstraZeneca agrees to invest $2 billion in Summit

AstraZeneca has agreed to invest $2 billion in Summit Therapeutics through a purchase of convertible preferred shares, alongside a planned cancer-drug research collaboration centered on Summit’s investigational treatment ivonescimab. The investment had not closed in the reports available September 29, and Summit said completion was expected by October 2, subject to customary conditions. Summit said the purchase price is equivalent to $18.36 per common share, an 18.6% premium to its September 28 closing price of $15.48. The proposed purchase covers about 108,955 preferred shares, each convertible into 1,000 common shares. Summit’s terms put AstraZeneca’s resulting holding at about 12% of outstanding common shares, or 10.6% on a fully diluted basis, after closing. The conversion and resale of common shares involve further steps, including regulatory clearances and a registration filing. The companies said they plan clinical trials combining ivonescimab with AstraZeneca cancer medicines. One planned study will test the combination with sonesitatug vedotin, an antibody-drug conjugate, in gastrointestinal cancers.