French drugmaker Sanofi to spend $1.9bn to buy US biopharma firm Kadmon
French healthcare company Sanofi has announced its plans to acquire Kadmon, a US biopharmaceutical firm, for $1.9bn, according to reports.
The news comes just one month after Sanofi announced its intention to buy another US biotech, Translate Bio, in a $3.2bn deal.
The French drugmaker said it offered $9.50 per share in cash for Kadmon and both companies’ boards approved the transaction.
The acquisition, Sanofi said in a statement, supports its strategy to grow its general medicines core assets. The company said it will immediately add Rezurock™(belumosudil) to its transplant portfolio. Rezurock is a recently FDA-approved treatment for chronic graft-versus-host disease for adult and pediatric patients over 12 years old.
“Our existing scale, expertise, and relationships in transplant create an ideal platform to achieve the full potential of Rezurock, which will address the significant unmet medical needs of patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease around the world,” said Olivier Charmeil, executive vice president of Sanofi’s general medicines division.
“We are excited that Sanofi has acknowledged the value of Rezurock and the deep potential of our pipeline,” said Harlan Waksal, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Kadmon. “By leveraging Sanofi’s global resources and long-standing expertise in developing and commercializing innovative medicines, Rezurock is now well positioned for global accessibility, faster. I want to thank the entire Kadmon team, including management and the Board of Directors, and the Sanofi organization, for their ongoing commitment to patients and their caregivers.”