Sanofi and Regeneron end ten-year mAb collaboration

15-Aug-2017 - Last updated on 31-Aug-2017 at 09:31 GMT

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“One of the most productive arrangements in the history of the biotechnology industry” will end, says Regeneron on its monoclonal antibody collaboration with Sanofi.

Formed in November 2007, the collaboration with Sanofi to discover, develop and commercialise a number of monoclonal antibody treatments will end at the end of this year, Regeneron said during its Q2 financial results earlier this month.

“I'd like to inform you that the Antibody Discovery Agreement will be ending in accordance with its terms without any extension on December 31, 2017,” CFO Robert Landry told stakeholders.

“The $130 million of 2017 annual funding from Sanofi under the Antibody Discovery Agreement is expected to be fully utilized by the end of the third quarter of 2017.”

The collaboration brought regulatory success to a number of products for the partners, including high cholesterol treatment Praluent (alirocumab), eczema drug Dupixent (dupilumab), and rheumatoid arthritis biologic Kevzara (sarilumab).

As such Regeneron president and chief scientific officer George Yancopoulos said: “We believe that our collaboration with Sanofi is one of the most productive arrangements in the history of the biotechnology industry and we look forward to continued collaborative efforts with Sanofi in the future.”

He also told investors anti-PD-1 antibody REGN2810, anti-IL-33 antibody REGN3500 and anti-LAG-3 antibody REGN3767 will all continue to be developed and commercialised under the financial terms of the agreement.

For the second quarter 2017, revenue from the collaboration brought Regeneron $222m, primarily consisting of reimbursement of Regeneron-incurred R&D expenses and commercialisation-related expenses, along with a share of profits from the commercialised products.