Sanofi expands antibody venture with Regeneron
pharmafile | November 12, 2009 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â Regeneron, SanofiÂ
Sanofi-Aventis has put more financial muscle behind its partnership with Regeneron for the development of monoclonal antibody-based drugs, boosting its annual commitment to the project to $160 million a year and extending it through 2017.
The collaboration, originally signed in November 2007, was due to expire in 2012 and had previously been worth $100 million a year. The two companies have already taken four mAbs into the clinic, expect to start trials of a fifth before the end of the year and then anticipate adding another 4-5 to the pot each year between 2010 and 2017.
Marc Cluzel, executive vice president of R&D at Sanofi-Aventis, said: “[The deal] will further fuel our product pipeline and will allow us to bring multiple antibody product candidates into the clinic.”
The news sparked a near 20% rise in Regeneron’s share price as it emerged that the US biotechnology firm will benefit from up to $1.2 billion in research funding under the partnership.
Regeneron’s only marketed product – Arcalyst (rilonacept) for a rare inflammatory condition called cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome – is expected to bring in revenues of around $20 million this year. Overall, the company posed a net loss of $30 million in the first nine months of 2009 on revenues of $283 million.
The antibodies already entered into clinical testing by the two partners include: aflibercept (VEGF Trap) for colorectal, prostate and non-small cell lung cancers (phase III); REGN475 (anti-NGF) for pain (phase I/II), REGN88 (anti-IL6R) for rheumatoid arthritis (phase I) and REGN421 (anti-DII4) for advanced malignancies (phase I).
Most of the clinical development costs will be funded by Sanofi, with 50% reimbursed out of Regeneron’s share of collaboration profits. Profits are split 50:50 in the US, with Regeneron taking a 35%-45% share elsewhere. It also has co-promotion rights to all products arising from the alliance.
The knock-on effect of the new deal will be an increase in headcount at Regeneron by around 400, taking it up to a level of 1,400 staff. Consequently there will be new hires in research, preclinical and clinical development and manufacturing.
There will also be a near-doubling in production capacity at the company’s manufacturing facility in Rensselaer, New York, to 53,000 litres, and Sanofi will contribute around $30 million to that production increase, said Regeneron.
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