The global pharmaceutical company Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) has announced the acquisition of Tidal Therapeutics, a biotechnology firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sanofi is paying $160 million upfront and up to $310 million upon achievement of certain milestones.
Tidal Therapeutics is focused on developing nanoparticles that deliver mRNA to reprogram immune cells inside the body with applications in oncology and immune diseases. The company was seeded by Mission BioCapital, and joined by RA Capital, New Enterprise Associates, the Myeloma Investment Fund, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation’s venture philanthropy, MRL Ventures and AbbVie Ventures.
The new technology platform will expand Sanofi’s research capabilities in both immuno-oncology and inflammatory diseases, while likely having broad applicability to other disease areas as well. According to search results in our Healthcare Deals Database, Sanofi last reported a deal in January of this year for Kymab, another clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company also based in Cambridge. Similar to Tidal, Kymab is focused on developing fully human monoclonal antibodies with a focus on immune-mediated diseases and immuno-oncology therapeutics. The addition of Kymab resulted in Sanofi having full global rights to KY1005, a fully human monoclonal antibody that has a novel mechanism of action. KY1005 binds to OX40-Ligand and has the potential to treat a wide variety of immune-mediated diseases and inflammatory disorders.
For that deal, Sanofi spent $1.1 billion upfront and promised $350 million upon achievement of certain milestones.
Sanofi isn’t the only major firm on the hunt for firms specializing in oncology and immune diseases. Just last month, the biotech giant Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) acquired Five Prime Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FPRX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing immuno-oncology and targeted cancer therapies. Amgen offered approximately $1.9 billion for Five Prime, or $38 per share in cash.
