AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot told CNBC on Monday that Therapeutic Summit» The blockbuster drug could help power next-generation cancer treatment combinations that could be “the future of cancer care.”
Soriot’s comments in an exclusive interview with CNBC come a week after the pharmaceutical giant announced a $2 billion equity investment and clinical collaboration with the biotech company to test potential cancer drug combinations.
At the heart of this investment is Summit’s ivonescimab, a first-in-class bispecific antibody that works by attacking cancer through two pathways simultaneously: PD-1, which acts as a brake on immune cells, and VEGF, a signal that helps tumors grow new blood vessels.
Blocking both frees the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells and cuts off the blood supply that tumors need to grow.
Soriot called the drug “next generation” after an initial wave of drugs targeting only PD-1, such as Merck’s Keytruda immunotherapy. Ivonescimab made waves globally after head-to-head clinical trials showed it outperformed Keytruda – the current standard of care and one of the most profitable drugs in history – in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
Soriot particularly sees an opportunity to combine Summit’s drug with AstraZeneca’s portfolio of targeted cancer treatments called antibody-drug conjugates.
Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca Plc, speaks during an interview at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., Friday, June 5, 2026.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Summit’s drug “in particular is very interesting because it may help treat a number of tumor types that may be better treated in combination with antibody-drug conjugates, better treated than with existing first-generation PD-1 agents,” he said.
AstraZeneca’s investment equates to a roughly 12% stake in Summit, and it is not an outright acquisition or licensing deal. That means Summit retains full approval and commercial rights to ivonescimab, which has sparked massive interest and a multibillion-dollar gold rush for drugs that work similarly.
AstraZeneca’s new R&D site
Soriot spoke with CNBC from the site of AstraZeneca’s new $1 billion-plus research and development center at Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The company announced Monday the opening of a 570,000-square-foot facility, where scientists will develop next-generation treatments for obesity, breast cancer, COPD and rare diseases, among other areas. AstraZeneca said these new products will help the company grow beyond 2030.
The center will use robotics, continuous automation and agentic AI to facilitate the drug discovery and development process, the drugmaker added.
“It’s faster, lower research and development costs, more products delivered to better products delivered to patients,” Soriot said. “We are in the race against the disease, and there are many unmet needs.”
He said about 20% of the investment in the site was for robotics and AI.
“The idea is to really exploit AI to invent new drugs more quickly, but also to invest in robotics to simplify and accelerate the process of discovery and development of molecules throughout the preclinical phase in particular,” said Soriot.
Gn bussni
