January 30, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Paris-based Sanofi bought up843,699 shares of Cambridge, Mass.-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals on Jan. 26, sparking rumors of all out acquisition to come. Average price was $93.17 per share for a total of $1.9 billion.
Alnylam develops therapeutics based on RNA interference, or RNAi. Most recently, on Jan. 11, 2015, the company reported promising results in a Phase I study of ALN-AT3 for the treatment of hemophilia.
The company announced on Jan. 20, 2015 its underwritten public offering of shares to raise proceeds of approximately $450 million. They intend to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, with a focus on hitting its 2020 profile with three marketed products, and 10 RNAi therapeutic clinical programs, including four that are in late stages of development. Its three Strategic Therapeutic Areas, or “STArs,” are Genetic Medicines, Cardio-Metabolic Disease, and Hepatic Infectious Disease.
Early in 2014 Sanofi acquired a 12 percent stake in Alnylam for approximately $700 million. According to analysts, this bolster’s Sanofi’s focus on rare disease treatments, marked most aggressively by its 2011 acquisition of Genzyme for $20.1 billion.
“Rare diseases is an area that’s attractive to pretty much everybody for the right reasons,” said Michael Leuchten of Barclays in a statement, “because you get high prices, you tend not to have that much headwinds in terms of reimbursements.”
Analysts are speculating that these investments in Alnylam by Sanofi may be a harbinger of a possible acquisition. It has also been noted that on Jan. 29, 2015 Alnylam CEO John Maraganore bought $950,000 of company stock, and the company’s Director Steven Paul also bought 1,000 shares for about $95,000 this week. These would suggest something big is going to happen.
Alternately, analysts point out that Sanofi invested heavily in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in July 2014, but no takeover bid has occurred.
In December 2014 Alnylam announced a new pipeline , which split the company into three business units. Alnylam’s technology includes its Enhanced Stabilization Chemistry (ESC)-GaINAc conjugate technology. This delivery platform targets delivery of RNAi therapeutics to hepatocytes, which allows subcutaneous delivery with greater potency, durability and a wide therapeutic index.
“Across our three STArs,” said Maraganore in a statement, “we believe that we can address major unmet needs in a wide range of diseases with high-impact, differentiated medicines, and continue to build what we believe to be one of the most robust pipelines in biotech.”
And apparently Sanofi agrees, having invested close to $2.6 billion in the company in the last year between its recent $1.9 billion investment and its 2014 investment of $700 million.
BioSpace Temperature Poll
Can Sanofi Snag a New CEO? French biopharma giant Sanofi has had a difficult time finding a replacement willing to take the CEO job after ousting popular chief Chris Viehbacher last fall. So far, at least three marquee-name candidates have turned down the job, including execs from Takeda and AstraZeneca. Do you think Sanofi will be able to fill this position any time soon? BioSpace wants your opinion!
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