Disappointing study results have led the company to take an impairment charge and plan new early-stage trials for a drug at the center of a $2.5 billion acquisition.
Six years ago, Daniel Mandell appeared on NPR to talk about an invention out of Jurassic Park.
Sanofi has posted early-phase data on its recombinant IL-2 molecule in solid tumor patients. Analysts at Jefferies called the data “intriguing” while noting it is currently hard to tell whether the drug improves on the IL-2 pathway agonist Bristol Myers Squibb is developing in partnership with Nektar Therapeutics.
There is no shortage of companies working to deliver the therapeutic benefits of cytokines without their nasty side effects, from Synthekine and Nektar Therapeutics to Synthorx, which Sanofi bought for $2.5 billion in 2019. The latest entrant to the arena is Asher Bio, a biotech engineering immunotherapies, such as cytokines, that only affect specific immune cell targets.
Laura Shawver capped 2019 with an $88 million windfall from the sale of Synthorx to Sanofi. And she pivoted right back into the sweet spot in 2020.
Nearly a year after snapping up a next-gen immuno-oncology candidate in its $2.5 billion Synthorx buyout, Sanofi is joining forces with Merck to pair the drug with blockbuster Keytruda.
GlaxoSmithKline has culled (PDF) a phase 2 asthma drug it once identified as a top prospect for its faltering respiratory business. The decision to dump IL33r antagonist GSK3772847 follows lackluster clinical data on rival candidates against the same target.
After Sanofi snapped up Synthorx for $2.5 billion in January, the latter’s CEO, Shawver, was out of a job. She wasted no time scoping out her next gig, eventually reuniting with an old colleague and landing at the helm of Silverback Therapeutics, a biotech working on a new kind of antibody-drug conjugate. Shawver has now teamed up with Peter Thompson, M.D., the OrbiMed partner who co-founded Silverback and Cleave BioSciences—the first biotech Shawver led—and who also invested in Cleave and backed Synthorx’s series C round in 2018. FierceBiotech
After Sanofi snapped up Synthorx for $2.5 billion in January, the latter’s CEO, Shawver, was out of a job. She wasted no time scoping out her next gig, eventually reuniting with an old colleague and landing at the helm of Silverback Therapeutics, a biotech working on a new kind of antibody-drug conjugate. Shawver has now teamed up with Peter Thompson, M.D., the OrbiMed partner who co-founded Silverback and Cleave BioSciences—the first biotech Shawver led—and who also invested in Cleave and backed Synthorx’s series C round in 2018. FierceBiotech
Just over a month after new CEO Paul Hudson announced a plan to acquire Synthorx, Sanofi has completed the deal and now fully owns the immuno-oncology specialist.