Guangdong’s first CAR-T technology licence to developed market as Foshan firm partners with NZ’s BioOra

Summary

Guangdong Zhaotai Cell Biotechnology, based in Foshan's Shunde district, has completed a commercial authorisation of its self-developed CAR-T cell therapy to a New Zealand company under a technology sublicence agreement worth USD 130 million. Wellington Zhaotai Therapies Limited (WZTL) and New Zealand's BioOra signed the agreement in Auckland, following Zhaotai Cell's earlier commercial authorisation to WZTL. It marks the first time a self-developed cell product from Guangdong has been commercially authorised to a developed country, a key step for biomedical innovation in the Greater Bay Area from exporting products to exporting technology.

The licensed product, WZTL-002, is a CD19-targeted autologous CAR-T cell injection with stronger tumour-killing potency and improved safety, and will be developed and commercialised in agreed international markets outside Greater China and India. Tang Chaoyang, chairman of Zhaotai Cell, said Guangdong companies have mostly exported products in the past, but this time it is core technology going global. Zhaotai Cell settled in Shunde Southern Smart Valley in 2020, licensed its CAR-T lymphoma drug to India's Dr Reddy's Laboratories in 2022, and in 2024 received Chinese customs approval for its CAR-T cell products to enter Hong Kong hospitals.

The company has also partnered with Tsinghua University and the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to develop fully automated cell culture and preparation equipment, and plans to export domestically produced automated preparation equipment alongside this technology outbound channel, while using the New Zealand partnership platform to advance solid tumour CAR-T, ITNK and other technologies into overseas markets.

Commentary

New Zealand's biomedical sector is known for innovative R&D, but the small domestic market means commercialisation often requires international licensing. BioOra's acquisition of development rights to Zhaotai Cell's CAR-T therapy outside Greater China and India gives a New Zealand company a rare technology asset to enter the global cell therapy race. CAR-T therapy has shown significant efficacy in haematological malignancies, with the global market expected to exceed USD 10 billion by 2027, but technical barriers are high and production costs are expensive.

If Zhaotai's domestically produced automated preparation equipment is exported alongside the technology, it could help reduce cell therapy costs, which is particularly important for a country like New Zealand with dispersed medical resources and high logistics costs. For NZ SMEs, the industrial chain opportunities from this collaboration include: first, clinical research services, as New Zealand has an efficient clinical trial approval system and can undertake international multicentre trials of CAR-T products; second, cold chain logistics and biosample management, as cell therapy products have extremely high temperature control and time sensitivity requirements, and local specialised logistics firms may be able to enter this niche market. On the other hand, the technology sublicence model also suggests that New Zealand companies in biomedicine can achieve asset-light internationalisation by bringing in external innovation and combining it with local clinical and regulatory advantages.

However, commercialisation of cell therapy still faces challenges such as payment systems and long-term efficacy data, and New Zealand's medicines regulator is still refining approval pathways for advanced therapies, so relevant companies need to assess market access risks in advance.

Keywords: CAR-T cell therapy, technology going global, Zhaotai Cell, New Zealand BioOra, USD 130 million, Greater Bay Area, biomedicine, WZTL-002, Tang Chaoyang, cell preparation equipment

Source: foshanplus.cn