By
Tolu Ajiboye
March 12th, 2021
Sanofi is looking at potential acquisitions of U.S. biotechnology companies including Principia Biopharma, as it looks for innovative treatments for clinical areas including multiple sclerosis and immune disorders. PRNB stock price is up.
Sanofi (EPA: SAN) is mulling potential buying of U.S. biotechnology companies including Principia Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ: PRNB) as it wants to try some new possible regimens for hospital situations including multiple sclerosis and immune disorders. People familiar with the situation said that the French company is trying to cooperate with its advisers in order to study potential deals that may come in line. The sources however asked to stay anonymous because the information they gave is private.
Chief Executive Officer Paul Hudson, who joined the company in 2019, is trying to modernize Sanofi by putting the focus on areas that are growing at an incredibly fast pace and where new drugs dictate high prices. It cannot be sure that all these considerations will lead to a transaction, according to the sources.
Sanofi shares up 0.42% to €93.31 during the trading on the Paris Stock exchange Euronext. The company already has a partnership with Principia Biopharma made to advance in treatment for central nervous system diseases. Principia Biopharma jumped pretty high in February after the company made an experimental medicine that made it to a mid-stage study and Sanofi’s CEO then stated it could capture half of the $20 billion markets for more than one sclerosis drug.
Principia Biopharma stock is 0.99% up, trading at $84.93 at the time of writing. The stpock finished yesterday’s trading with a 13.43% rise that gave the company a market value of approximately $2.7 billion. Representatives for Sanofi and Principia Biopharma didn’t want to comment on the new possibilities.
Sanofi and Principia Biopharma Partnership
Sanofi could allocate at least $50 billion on further acquisitions after the company said it is getting rid of its stake in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. Analysts at Bank of America Corp. predicted earlier that along with cancer and gene therapy technologies, other possible deals may include immunology assets.
Principia Biopharma is making a therapy called rilzabrutinib for the treatment of immune-system conditions, according to its website. This medicine is part of a class of medications known as BTK inhibitors, which are often used to combat some cancerous diseases. The company is currently evaluating the medicine’s use in patients with pemphigus, a group of rare diseases that cause blistering of the skin and mucous membranes.
Let us also mention that Principia was the subject of the annoyance of Sahm Adrangi’s Kerrisdale Capital, which in January put its sights on the biotech, commenting the pipeline of the Sanofi partner is “worthless.” The short seller then stated Principia’s approach to the treatment of autoimmune diseases is “misguided” and likely to lead to clinical failures.
BTK Inhibitors Ineffective in Autoimmune Diseases?
Kerrisdale noted the wider concept of using BTK inhibitors to treat autoimmune diseases was wrong. The analysis details the failed attempts of companies including Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead and Roche to develop BTK inhibitors for use in autoimmune diseases. The breakdowns led Kerrisdale to conclude BTK inhibitors are ineffective in autoimmune diseases as they didn’t succeed to decrease the existing B-cell populations that attack healthy tissues in patients.
It also focused on Principia’s prospects in multiple sclerosis. Kerrisdale pointed out that Principia’s Sanofi-partnered multiple sclerosis drugs has “a mode of action that seems irrelevant to the etiology of MS,” again citing the failure to tackle existing B cells to explain its reasoning.
However, only a few weeks after the attack, its MS drug passed phase 2, pushing its shares upwards.
