Sanofi and Regeneron expand alliance with $1 billion upfront payment

Sanofi and Regeneron have expanded their drug-development alliance to work on four long-acting antibody drugs, with Sanofi paying Regeneron $1 billion upfront. The companies can receive up to $7 billion in additional milestone payments. The experimental drugs target IL-4, IL-13 or related targets, and are intended to build on the companies’ work on Dupixent.

Regeneron will lead research and development, while Sanofi will lead global commercialization. The companies will split development and commercialization costs and any profits from approved drugs equally. The most advanced candidate, REGN20423, is in an early-stage trial, according to BioPharma Dive. The companies said the other three candidates should enter human testing next year, the outlet reported.

Sanofi and Regeneron said their existing profit-sharing agreement for Dupixent will not change. Fierce Biotech reported that the expanded deal also settles litigation between the companies over access to commercialization information about Dupixent.