Sanofi bought Dren’s DR-0201 program earlier this year for $600 million upfront and is running two Phase I trials in undisclosed inflammatory indications.
After buying Dren Bio’s B cell depletion program earlier this year, Sanofi wants more. The partners have signed a new agreement worth up to $1.7 billion to work on a therapy for multiple autoimmune diseases.
The new agreement will leverage Dren’s Targeted Myeloid Engager and Phagocytosis Platform to find new multi-specific therapies, according to the Monday release. Dren will receive $100 million upfront and be eligible for $1.7 billion in milestones down the line.
Dren will use its platform to discover new potential therapies. After the partners pick a development candidate, Sanofi will take over for development, manufacturing, regulatory and commercialization efforts. Dren will retain a right to co-fund future development.
Sanofi bought Dren’s DR-0201 program outright earlier this year for $600 million upfront, plus $1.3 billion in certain development and launch milestone payments. Now called SAR448501, the CD20 bispecific monoclonal antibody is being tested in two Phase I trials for undisclosed inflammatory indications.
Dren also has an oncology partnership with Novartis that was signed in July 2024 worth up to $3 billion and one with Pfizer from 2022 worth a potential $1 billion or more.
