AZN vs XCUR

AstraZeneca PLC

AstraZeneca PLC discovers, develops, manufactures, and commercializes prescription medicines in the areas of oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism, respiratory, infection, neuroscience, and gastroenterology worldwide. The company's marketed products include Tagrisso, Lynparza, Imfinzi, Enhertu, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Equidacent, Zoladex, Faslodex, Iressa, Arimidex, Casodex/Cosudex, and others for oncology diseases; Onglyza, Bydureon, Lokelma, Byetta, Qtern, Symlin, and others for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; and Symbicort, Pulmicort, Fasenra, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir, Tudorza/Eklira, Bevespi, Breztri, Anifrolumab, and others for respiratory and immunology diseases. It also offers other medicines and COVID-19 products, including Synagis, Fluenz Tetra/FluMist Quadrivalent, Seroquel IR/Seroquel XR, Vimovo, Movantik/Moventig, Nexium, Losec/Prilosec, and COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca. The company serves primary care and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices. It has a collaboration agreement with Daiichi Sankyo to develop and commercialize DS-1062 for the treatment of trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (TROP2) tumor; AliveCor, Inc. to develop non-invasive potassium monitoring solutions; Massachusetts General Hospital to accelerate digital health solutions; Sanguina on smartphone application study for hemoglobin management in patients with anemia of chronic kidney disease; Alchemab to enhance prostate cancer research; and Proteros biostructures GmbH to discover and develop novel small molecules for the treatment of various types of cancer. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. It has a collaboration agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to research, develop, and commercialize small molecule medicines for obesity. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.

Exicure Inc.

Exicure, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops therapeutics for neurology, immuno-oncology, inflammatory diseases, and genetic disorders based on its proprietary spherical nucleic acid (SNA) technology. Its drug candidate includes cavrotolimod (AST-008) that is in a Phase 1b/2 clinical trials in patients with advanced solid tumors. The company is also developing XCUR-FXN, an SNA–based therapeutic candidate that is in preclinical trials for the treatment of Friedreich's ataxia; XCUR17, an SNA that targets the messenger RNA (mRNA) encoding interleukin 17 receptor alpha; and AST-005, an SNA targeting TNF for the treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis. It has a collaboration, option, and license agreement with Allergan Pharmaceuticals International Limited to develop SNA-based treatments for hair loss disorders; license and development agreement with DERMELIX, LLC to research, develop, and commercialize its technology for the treatment of netherton syndrome; and collaboration agreement with Ipsen S.A. to research, develop, and commercialize novel spherical nucleic acids for Huntington's disease and Angelman syndrome. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.