European Pharma Giants Sanofi and GSK Enter Preclinical Collaboration Deals

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

• Sanofi (Paris-based) has partnered with InduPro Therapeutics, a preclinical biotech located in the US.

• 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.

• Benefits: In return, Sanofi retains a first-look option to license any successfully developed candidates arising from the collaboration.

• 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

• GSK (London-based) has teamed up with UK-based Oxford BioTherapeutics (OBT).

• Objective: GSK will utilize OBT’s platform to discover potential targets for first-in-class cancer antibodies.

• Financial Terms: OBT is receiving an upfront payment, with eligibility for future milestones and royalties depending on the collaboration’s success.

• Role Allocation: If promising targets are identified, GSK will assume all responsibility for subsequent research, development, and commercialization.

• 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.

Source: https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/sanofi-gsk-ink-preclinical-pacts-quest-new-autoimmune-and-cancer-antibodies