Sanofi announced Monday morning that it has agreed to purchase Provention Bio, a biopharma focused on treating immune-mediated diseases, for $2.9 billion.
Provention Bio has been on the forefront of developing therapies for diseases like type 1 diabetes, including most notably TZIELD. The drug therapy was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year to delay the onset of Stage 3 type 1 diabetes in adults and pediatric patients younger than 8 with Stage 2 type 1 diabetes.
As part of the deal, Sanofi will commence with a cash tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Provention Bio, reflecting a total equity value of $2.9 billion. Additionally, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sanofi will merge with and into Provention Bio.
The French pharma giant said it expects the deal to be completed in Q2 2023.
The acquisition fits with Sanofi’s goal to bolster its General Medicines segment with another key diabetes treatment. According to the company’s latest earnings report, the segment’s core assets were up 8% year-over-year in Q4 2022, though sales dropped 3.7% during that period.
“The acquisition of Provention Bio builds on Sanofi’s mission to deliver best- and first-in-class medicines and resonates with our purpose of chasing the miracles of science for the benefit of people,” Olivier Charmeil, EVP of general medicines at Sanofi, said in a statement. “By coupling Provention Bio’s transformative innovation with Sanofi’s expertise, we aim to bring life-changing benefits to people at risk of developing Stage 3 type 1 diabetes. Any additional indications, approvals and pipeline assets only serve to further our excitement. Given our existing partnership and complementary work in the diabetes and immunology spaces, we foresee a seamless integration and execution.”
Provention Bio CEO Ashleigh Palmer said in a statement that her company and Sanofi share a common vision of bringing new therapies to patients with autoimmune diseases.
“Under our co-promotion agreement, our companies have made significant progress educating healthcare providers and increasing patient access during the initial U.S. commercial launch of TZIELD,” Palmer said. “Sanofi’s global expertise and commitment to immunology makes them an ideal acquiror and positions our innovative therapy to reach more patients as quickly as possible.”
The Provention Bio deal is also an intriguing move from Sanofi in light of Eli Lilly’s vow earlier this month to cap insulin list prices, a decision that prompted calls for Sanofi and Novo Nordisk, two other major insulin producers, to follow suit on behalf of patients living with diabetes.
The acquisition was also announced nearly a month after Sanofi’s former head of R&D John Reed decamped for Johnson & Johnson, where he now serves as EVP of pharmaceuticals, R&D.
