Sanofi will gain global exclusive rights over rovadicitinib, an oral JAK/ROCK blocker that has anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects.
Like multiple other pharma giants, Sanofi’s search for novel innovative drugs has found a deal in Asia. The pharma has entered into a licensing agreement with Sino Biopharmaceutical to advance an oral anti-inflammatory therapy.
Sanofi is fronting $135 million, according to a Tuesday securities filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. In return, the pharma will have the exclusive right to develop, manufacture and commercialize the biotech’s investigational pill rovadicitinib worldwide. Sino Biopharm will also be eligible for up to $1.395 billion in clinical, regulatory and sales milestones, plus double-digit tiered royalties.
It is unclear what diseases Sanofi plans to target with rovadicitinib, but according to Tuesday’s regulatory filing, the asset has been cleared for Phase 2 development in the U.S. for chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD).
Designed to be an oral medicine, rovadicitinib is a small-molecule inhibitor of the JAK and ROCK proteins. JAK/STAT is a well-characterized pathway in inflammatory diseases, and disrupting this cascade has been shown to have therapeutic effects on various immune-mediated conditions. ROCK, meanwhile, modulates the activity of the STAT3 and STAT5 proteins. By targeting this process, rovadicitinib helps restore immune balance, according to the filing.
Through this dual mechanism of action, rovadicitinib exerts “synergistic anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects,” Sino Biopharm added. The drug is approved in China for the treatment of primary myelofibrosis, post-polycythemia vera myelofibrosis and post-essential thrombocythemia myelofibrosis.
Sino Biopharm is the latest addition to a growing group of partners that Sanofi has amassed in recent months. In December, the pharma put up to $1.7 billion on the line to access Dren Bio’s platform to advance treatments for autoimmune diseases. A few months earlier, in March 2025, Sanofi acquired Dren’s B cell depleter DR-0201 for $600 million upfront and up to $1.3 billion in milestones.
Also in December, Sanofi landed in Asia to partner with South Korea’s ADEL, betting up to $1.04 billion for an anti-tau antibody in Alzheimer’s disease.
Other recent Sanofi deals include its $500 million pact with EVOQ Therapeutics in October and $1.6 billion Vicebio buy in July. The pharma also penned one of last year’s largest acquisitions, swallowing Blueprint Medicines for $9.5 billion in June.
