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Sanofi has struck a deal in the hotly competitive radiopharmaceuticals sector, buying a $300mn stake in a subsidiary of French nuclear fuel company Orano that is developing a new cancer treatment.
The deal values OranoMed at €1.9bn, as Sanofi becomes the latest big pharmaceutical company to explore one of the most popular new areas of oncology. Radiopharmaceuticals, otherwise known as radioligands, can deliver a toxic payload directly to cancer cells by combining microscopic amounts of a nuclear isotope with a targeting compound.
Novartis has two approved radiopharmaceutical therapies while AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly have also recently acquired biotech groups in the sector.
Sanofi already has an exclusive licence with OranoMed and its US partner RadioMedix to develop a drug using radioactive lead isotopes for neuroendocrine tumours, a rare cancer affecting cells that release hormones into the bloodstream.
Sanofi will take a 16 per cent stake in OranoMed, which is majority owned by nuclear fuel manufacturer Orano. Julien Dodet, chief executive of OranoMed, told the Financial Times that the group’s control of its entire manufacturing chain set it apart from rivals in a sector beset by supply challenges. Such issues have arisen because the drugs must be manufactured and administered within a matter of days, before their radioactive half-life expires.
RayzeBio, a biotech acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2023 for $4.1bn, recently halted advanced trials of a drug for neuroendocrine tumours due to shortages of actinium isotopes. Novartis has resolved supply shortages that affected its drug Pluvicto for prostate cancer after its launch in 2022.
“For 18 months, radioligand therapies [has been] a sector where there’s been a lot of interest and we’ve seen lots of transactions,” said Dodet. “We see that all those who go into the sector come unstuck with production, while we have already invested hundreds of millions of euros in making isotopes. That’s a point of differentiation.”
The company will use lead-212 isotopes rather than actinium-225, another type of isotope commonly used in the experimental treatment, which has faced supply constraints.
It will use isotopes that emit “alpha” radiation, which is more powerful than those that release “beta” radiation, such as Pluvicto.
Paul Hudson, chief executive of Sanofi, said he was “excited to partner with Orano in establishing a French pioneer that unites our respective expertise in biopharma and nuclear technology to drive groundbreaking progress in the fight against cancer.”
The deal comes as Sanofi faces controversy in France for considering a deal to sell a 50 per cent controlling stake in its consumer healthcare business Opella to US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
France’s industry minister Marc Ferracci warned on Tuesday that the government could block the €15.5bn deal if it is not satisfied that CD&R can meet government demands on employment, industrial footprint, volume productions in France and research and development.
OranoMed’s drug licensed from RadioMedix recently received a breakthrough designation from the US Food and Drug Administration, meaning its development can be fastracked. Provided the drug passes clinical trials, Dodet said it could launch the product in 2026.
