Sanofi, Innate Pharma say to develop tumor treatment

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi S.A.(SAN.FR) announced Monday that it sealed an agreement with Innate Pharma S.A.(IPH.FR) to develop a new treatment for tumors.

The two companies will work on developing new bispecific antibody formats that engage natural killer cells to kill tumor cells, Sanofi said in a statement.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sanofi will be responsible for the development, manufacturing and commercialization of the products resulting from the research collaboration.

Innate Pharma could get as much as 400 million euros ($437 million) in development and commercial milestone payments as well as royalties on net sales, Sanofi said.

Separately, the French pharmaceutical giant said it sealed another agreement with privately held Warp Drive Bio to develop oncology treatment. Warp Drive Bio would be eligible to receive more than $750 million from Sanofi, including an equity investment.

Sanofi is rushing to develop new drugs to replace a number of its existing drugs that are entering the public domain, which would allow generic pharmaceutical groups to produce and sell the same drugs at a fraction of Sanofi’s price, a phenomenon known as the “patent cliff”.

Source: MarketWatch