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.
Related Content
Regeneron announces presentations of new data on Eylea HD for retinal disease
Regeneron has presented data for Eylea HD (aflibercept) 8mg injection for retinal disease. The data …
Sanofi and Regeneron’s Dupixent receives CHMP recommendation for chronic spontaneous urticaria
Sanofi and Regeneron have received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee …
Sanofi’s treatment granted orphan designation for rare chronic inflammatory condition
The European Medicines Agency has granted orphan designation to Sanofi’s investigational Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) …
