Sanofi: To accelerate the development of its latest anti-cancer treatment, Sanofi joins forces with Blackstone


(BFM Bourse) – Through its Blackstone Life Sciences branch, the investment fund will contribute 300 million euros to the development of Sanofi’s new antitumor treatment. If successful, Blackstone will collect royalties from the sales.

Will we soon see an investment fund holding a marketing authorization (AMM) for a drug? This is not yet the case with Blackstone. Nevertheless, via its subsidiary Blackstone Life Sciences (resulting from the 2018 takeover of a health investment fund, Clarus), this global private equity giant does not hesitate to bet large sums on the development of a drug, by partnering with biotechs or pharmaceutical labs on very specific projects in the hope of capitalizing on sales.

In this context, Blackstone Life Sciences (BXLS) and Sanofi unveiled on Tuesday a strategic collaboration around the Sarclisa franchise, one of the latest drugs marketed by the tricolor group. At the end of this risk pooling agreement, the funds managed by BXLS will invest up to 300 million euros in order to accelerate the global program of clinical studies of this cancer treatment approved at this stage only against certain forms multiple myeloma, but which could target other forms of cancer, both blood and solid, and in particular finance the clinical development of a formulation allowing subcutaneous injection (the product can only be administered intravenously today) .

In exchange, Blackstone Life Sciences will be eligible for royalties on future sales of the solution for subcutaneous injection. “The collaboration with Blackstone will allow us to offer patients more quickly a solution for subcutaneous injection of our anti-CD38 antibody, which will be innovative and more practical to use”, explained John Reed, head of the group’s R&D. French. A pivotal study dedicated to this potential new formulation, designed with the support of Enable Injections, a start-up specialized in drug delivery technologies, should begin during the second half of 2022.

This financing scheme is reminiscent of that which applies to biotechs… when large pharmaceutical laboratories (such as Sanofi) provide funds for the development of a potential treatment, expecting in exchange the perception of a part future income.

Approved since 2020

Sarclisa is a monoclonal antibody that binds to a specific epitope on the CD38 receptor of tumor cells to induce their programmed death (apoptosis) first approved in March 2020 in the United States and Europe, shortly before the WHO does not declare the Covid-19 pandemic. The first months of marketing were thus slowed down by the health crisis, with hospitals being mobilized by the fight against the coronavirus. For its first full year of marketing, the treatment generated 176 million euros in sales in 2021. Sanofi hopes to obtain new approvals in broader indications to make it one of its bestsellers.

In addition, offering a subcutaneous version seems essential to hope to put Sarclisa in the race against the competitor Darzalex from Johnson & Johnson, which has already benefited from approval in this form since 2020. This compound (daratumumab), historically the first anti-CD38 antibody, represents several billion dollars in sales per year.

Guillaume Bayre – ©2022 BFM Bourse

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