Sanofi bolsters stem cell biz with $1.9bn Kadmon buy

Sanofi will grow its regenerative medicine  business through the acquisition of Kadmon, adding FDA-approved stem cell transplant Rezurock to its portfolio.  

The deal sees French pharma giant Sanofi pay Kadmon Holdings $9.50 per share in cash, equalling a total equity value of approximately $1.9 billion.

“The acquisition supports continued growth of our transplant business and adds a complementary offering that expands Sanofi’s portfolio and leverages the company’s expertise in stem cell transplant,” a spokesperson for Sanofi told BioProcess Insider.

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Sanofi will immediately add US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Rezurock (belumosudil) to its transport portfolio. Rezurock aims to treat chronic graft-versus-host disease for adults and children 12 years and older who have failed a minimum of two prior lines of systemic therapy.

According to the firm, its transplant business is a growth area for its general medicine’s division, which already has existing assets such as Thymoglobulin (anti-thymocyte globulin) and Mozobil (plerixafor).

Thymoglobulin is used for the treatment of acute rejection in individuals receiving a kidney transplant and Mozobil is a hematopoietic stem cell mobilizer that aids bone marrow to release stem cells into the blood stream enabling it to be collected and transplanted into the body.

Kadmon does not own or operate any manufacturing facilities. However, Sanofi says it has “developed some industrial scale processes and related scale up expertise that will be leveraged, combining Kadmon’s expertise and Sanofi’s capabilities, [so] we’ll be able to accelerate the transition to manufacturing at a commercially viable scale.”

Sanofi plans to keep Kadmon’s employees and wants to integrate the company “with the key objective of maintaining business continuity and minimizing disruption especially during this crucial launch phase for Rezurock.”