06:26 AM EDT, 03/17/2025 (MT Newswires) -- AstraZeneca ( AZN ) on Monday agreed to acquire Belgian biotechnology company EsoBiotec in a deal worth up to $1 billion as it looks to boost its cell therapies portfolio.

The UK drugmaker will acquire all of EsoBiotec's outstanding equity on a cash and debt-free basis, the companies said in separate statements. AstraZeneca ( AZN ) will initially pay $425 million upon completion of the deal and up to $575 million in contingency considerations, based on development and regulatory milestones.

The transaction, which requires approval from regulators, is expected to complete in the second quarter. AstraZeneca ( AZN ) doesn't expect the deal to impact its full-year 2025 outlook.

AstraZeneca's ( AZN ) US-listed shares were down 0.8% in the most recent premarket activity.

As part of the deal, AstraZeneca ( AZN ) will gain access to EsoBiotec's engineered nanobody lentiviral platform, which enables specific immune cells to recognize and destroy tumor cells for cancer treatment.

"We are excited about the acquisition of EsoBiotec and the opportunity to rapidly advance their promising in vivo platform," said Susan Galbraith, AstraZeneca's ( AZN ) executive vice president of oncology haematology research and development. "We believe it has the potential to transform cell therapy and will enable us to scale these innovative treatments."

Following completion, EsoBiotec will become a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca ( AZN ) with operations in Belgium. AstraZeneca ( AZN ) anticipates EsoBiotec to "accelerate and expand the impact" of its recent investments, according to Galbraith.

"By combining our expertise and resources, we can accelerate the development of our in vivo platform which has a novel delivery technology we believe will have broad therapeutic applicability," EsoBiotec Chief Executive Jean-Pierre Latere said.