NEW YORK – Sanofi and Orano Med on Thursday announced they are collaborating to form a new entity focused on the development of next-generation radioligand therapies.
As part of the alliance, Sanofi will make an equity investment of €300 million ($324.6 million), worth an approximate 16 percent stake, in the new entity valuing it at €1.9 billion.
The entity will operate under the Orano brand and will work on the discovery, design, and clinical development of next-generation radioligand therapies for cancer based on lead-212 alpha-emitting isotopes. Sanofi's investment will allow Orano to accelerate its internal pipeline of lead-212-based therapies.
Last month, Sanofi licensed a radioligand therapy from Houston-based RadioMedix and Paris-based Orano. The treatment, called AlphaMedix (212Pb-DOTAMTATE), is in development for somatostatin-positive neuroendocrine cancers in an ongoing Phase II clinical trial. Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration granted breakthrough therapy designation to AlphaMedix for the treatment of somatostatin receptor-positive gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
Orano's pipeline also includes an anti-gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR) lead-212-based therapy being studied in GRPR-expressing solid tumors in a Phase I trial, along with several preclinical lead-212-based therapies for the treatment of solid tumors, including breast, prostate, and small cell lung cancers.