Sanofi to sell rights to cancer drug Libtayo to partner Regeneron for $900M upfront
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Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) is selling worldwide exclusive license rights to cancer drug Libtayo to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals' (NASDAQ:REGN) for an upfront $900M, plus royalties and other potential payments.
The two companies have been developing and selling the drug jointly.
Under the agreement, Sanofi will transfer the rights to develop, commercialize, and make Libtayo entirely to Regeneron, on a worldwide basis, over the course of a transition period (which will start upon getting any required governmental clearances).
Sanofi said that in exchange, it will receive an upfront payment of $900M, and an 11% royalty on worldwide net sales.
The French pharma giant will also be entitled to a $100M regulatory milestone payment upon the first approval by either the FDA or European Commission of Libtayo in combination with chemotherapy as first-line therapy of certain patients with NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer); and sales-related milestone payments of up to $100M in total over the next two years.
Regeneron had recorded $124.7M in Libtayo sales in Q1.
The transaction is expected to close in Q3 and is subject to clearance.
In Addition, Sanofi said that Regeneron will also accelerate reimbursement of the development balance linked with the companies' separate collaboration on antibody.
Sanofi (SNY) noted that Regeneron (REGN) will increase to 20% from 10% the share of its profits that are paid to Sanofi to reimburse Sanofi-funded development expenses, until Regeneron's share of the total development costs incurred under the collaboration has been reached.