Rival European pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and GSK have both forged new partnership agreements aimed at strengthening their respective preclinical research efforts.
Sanofi: Focus on Autoimmune Disease
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Sanofi (Paris-based) has partnered with InduPro Therapeutics, a preclinical biotech located in the US.
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Collaboration Details: Sanofi has made an equity investment in InduPro and will provide funding for and collaborate on Investigational New Drug application (IND)-enabling studies for InduPro’s bispecific PD-1 agonist antibodies.
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Benefits: In return, Sanofi retains a first-look option to license any successfully developed candidates arising from the collaboration.
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Lead Candidate: InduPro’s lead autoimmune bispecific, IDP-003, targets PD-1 and T-cell antigen 2. InduPro CEO Dr. Prakash Raman called Sanofi the ideal partner to advance this promising first-in-class molecule.
GSK: Focus on Cancer Antibody Discovery
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GSK (London-based) has teamed up with UK-based Oxford BioTherapeutics (OBT).
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Objective: GSK will utilize OBT’s platform to discover potential targets for first-in-class cancer antibodies.
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Financial Terms: OBT is receiving an upfront payment, with eligibility for future milestones and royalties depending on the collaboration’s success.
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Role Allocation: If promising targets are identified, GSK will assume all responsibility for subsequent research, development, and commercialization.
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Technology Platform: GSK was reportedly drawn to OBT’s “best-in-class proteomics platform,” named OGAP-Verify. This marks OBT’s second major collaboration this year, following a deal with Roche potentially worth up to $1 billion in May 2024.
Both partnerships were announced by the respective biotech partners on December 10, though specific financial details for either agreement were not disclosed publicly.