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Sanofi reshapes mRNA landscape with $3.2B Translate Bio buy

The deal could make the company an mRNA heavy-hitter.

By Brian Buntz | August 3, 2021

SanofiSanofi (NSDQ:SNY) may be one of the biggest vaccine manufacturers in the world, but the quick rise of the mRNA vaccine platform during the pandemic caught the company by surprise. 

The company could be on the way to rectify that with its $3.2 billion acquisition of its mRNA partner Translate Bio. 

Sanofi began working with Lexington, Mass.–based Translate Bio in 2018 and expanded that partnership last June with a $2 billion collaboration. 

In the most recent deal, Sanofi will pay $38 per share for Translate Bio’s shares. 

Sanofi plans to use mRNA technology for various clinical uses beyond vaccines, including immunology, oncology and rare diseases.

The mRNA-based Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) and Pfizer-BioNTech (NYSE:PFE/NSDQ:BNTX) vaccines have generated tens of billions of dollars in sales in 2021. Pfizer anticipates the BNT162b2 vaccine could generate $33.5 billion in sales this year. Moderna’s market valuation hit $140 billion on Aug. 2, while BioNTech’s has surpassed $80 billion. 

For the sake of comparison, Sanofi generated $41 billion in revenue last year. 

Sanofi is developing a COVID-19 vaccine with GSK that could hit the market later this year. That vaccine, however, is not based on an mRNA platform. 

The company is also developing an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine with Translate Bio. The two companies announced last October that they had launched a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine. 


Filed Under: clinical trials, Drug Discovery, Infectious Disease, Oncology
Tagged With: Sanofi, Translate Bio, vaccines
 

About The Author

Brian Buntz

As the pharma and biotech editor at WTWH Media, Brian has almost two decades of experience in B2B media, with a focus on healthcare and technology. While he has long maintained a keen interest in AI, more recently Brian has made making data analysis a central focus, and is exploring tools ranging from NLP and clustering to predictive analytics.

Throughout his 18-year tenure, Brian has covered an array of life science topics, including clinical trials, medical devices, and drug discovery and development. Prior to WTWH, he held the title of content director at Informa, where he focused on topics such as connected devices, cybersecurity, AI and Industry 4.0. A dedicated decade at UBM saw Brian providing in-depth coverage of the medical device sector. Engage with Brian on LinkedIn or drop him an email at bbuntz@wtwhmedia.com.

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