Ocular Therapeutix’s lead asset is Axpaxli, being developed for wet age-related macular degeneration. A Phase III study is underway, with data expected this quarter.
Rumors of a potential takeover by Sanofi have drummed up market interest in Ocular Therapeutix, sending shares of the Massachusetts-based biotech surging early Thursday morning.
The rumors were first reported by French publication La Lettre, which on Thursday said the pharma had initially approached Ocular with a $16-per-share offer, which the biotech turned down in September. Sanofi has since regrouped and prepared an improved proposal, according to the publication.
Following La Lettre’s report, Ocular’s stock price jumped as much as 21% in premarket trading on Thursday, according to reporting from SeekingAlpha. The biotech has since mellowed, ending that day’s trading session at $11.28, down some 10% from its opening price of $12.50. After the closing bell, shares ticked up slightly to $11.36.
In an emailed statement to BioSpace, a Sanofi spokesperson said the pharma does not comment on “market rumors or speculation.”
BioSpace has also reached out to Ocular for comment.
Ocular has a market capitalization of around $2.4 billion. Much of the biotech’s value is driven by its lead asset Axpaxli, an investigational hydrogel formulation of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor axitinib, being tested for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy.
Axpaxli is being studied in the Phase III SOL-1 study in wet AMD, which the company last month said is on track to read out in the first quarter of this year. A new drug application will follow soon after, Ocular noted at the time.
For Sanofi, the Ocular acquisition would help it build out its eye disease portfolio with an asset that could go toe-to-toe with Regeneron’s Bayer-partnered Eylea and Roche’s Vabysmo. In the third quarter of 2025, each of those drugs made over $1 billion. Wet AMD offers a $14 billion to $15 billion market opportunity annually, Graig Suvannavejh, managing director of equity research at Mizuho Securities, told BioSpace in an interview earlier this month.
If the Ocular takeover comes to fruition, it would presumably be a mid-sized deal, continuing the trend seen at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference this week. Last year, Johnson & Johnson acquired Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6 billion at the start of JPM week but no takeover of such magnitude has been announced this year.
