AstraZeneca Completes License Agreement with Dizal for Lung Cancer Treatment Zegfrovy

Editor’s Take: With lung cancer being the leading cause of cancer death, new indications for treatments can be game changers.

AstraZeneca says it successfully completed its exclusive license agreement, previously announced in July 2026, with Dizal Pharmaceutical for Zegfrovy (sunvozertinib). Zegfrovy is an oral irreversible epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor, indicated to treat patients with lung cancer.

More specifically, Zegfrovy is approved in the United States and China as a second-line treatment. This is for adults with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations. AstraZeneca is launching this indication in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Need for Lung Cancer Innovation

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in men and women; NSCLC accounts for 80%–85% of cases. Among NSCLC patients, those with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations have a real-world, five-year survival rate as low as 8%.

With that said, the U.S. FDA has accepted a supplemental New Drug Application for Zegfrovy approval in the first-line setting. Supporting this decision is a global Phase III trial (WU-KONG28) in first-line NSCLC with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations.

China’s Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) is also considering Zegfrovy in the first-line setting. Both the FDA (in April 2024) and CDE granted Zegfrovy Breakthrough Therapy Designation for this purpose.

Dizal Getting $600M Up Front

In the agreement with Dizal, AstraZeneca gains global rights to develop and commercialize Zegfrovy. For this, AstraZeneca is making a $600 million upfront payment. Dizal may receive up to $900 million more, however, for achieving development, regulatory, or sales-related milestones. Dizal is also eligible for tiered royalties on global sales.