By Dina Kartit
(Reuters) -France’s Sanofi said on Monday it has entered into a deal to acquire U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company Provention Bio in a transaction worth $2.9 billion, or $25.00 per share in cash.
With the acquisition, the French pharmaceutical group intends to acquire full ownership of an innovative treatment for the delay of stage 3 type 1 diabetes affecting about 65,000 people every year, it said in a statement.
The treatment TZIELD (teplizumab-mzwv) was approved in the U.S. last year and is the first and only drug indicated to delay the onset of stage 3 type 1 diabetes in adults and pediatric patients aged 8 years and older with stage 2 type 1 diabetes.
This transaction builds on an existing co-promotion deal between Sanofi and Provention Bio to provide TZIELD to patients in need, said the French firm.
“Given our existing partnership and complementary work in the diabetes and immunology spaces, we foresee a seamless integration and execution,” said in a statement from Sanofi’s Executive Vice President General Medicines Olivier Charmeil.
“Provention Bio also brings certain pipeline assets in early development in immune-mediated diseases,” added the group.
Sanofi said it expects to complete the acquisition in the second quarter of 2023.
(Reporting by Dina Kartit; Editing by Kim Coghill)
