Sanofi To Purchase Immune System-Focused Drugmaker Principia Biopharma For $3.7B
Photo courtesy: Sanofi SA via Flickr
Sanofi SA (SNY) will acquire Principia Biopharma Inc (PRNB) for $3.68 billion in cash, the two companies announced Monday.
What Happened
Under the agreement, the French drugmaker will purchase all of Principia’s outstanding shares at $100 each, in cash. The boards of the two companies have given their approval for the transaction, the drugmakers said.
The two companies have been cooperating on autoimmune diseases, specifically, a multiple sclerosis treatment termed "BTK inhibitor ‘168," since 2017.
“Full ownership of our brain-penetrant BTK inhibitor '168 removes complexities for this priority development program and simplifies future commercialization,” Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said in a statement.
The Paris-based drugmaker expects to close the deal by the end of this year.
Why It Matters
Sanofi's acquisition of Principia Biopharma would allow the latter to leverage BTK inhibitors for targeting specific organs, according to the San Francisco-based company’s CEO Martin Babler.
Separately, Sanofi is also collaborating with Translate Bio, Inc (TBIO) for the development of an RNA vaccine candidate.
Price Action
Sanofi shares closed nearly 2% lower at $50.33 on Friday and gained almost 0.2% in the after-hours. Principia shares closed almost 1.1% lower at $90.74 the same day.
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