AstraZeneca buys Chinese cancer therapy firm Gracell for $1.2bn

Gracell Biotechnologies acquisition marks China’s growing importance to the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker

AstraZeneca has struck a deal to buy a Chinese cancer therapy company for up to $1.2bn, as Britain’s biggest drugmaker expands its footprint in its second-largest market.

The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical firm announced on Tuesday that it would acquire Gracell Biotechnologies, which is focused on a type of cancer therapy known as CAR-T that modifies a patient’s cells to fight the disease.