Covington Advises Regeneron on New Immuno-Oncology Collaboration

WASHINGTON, DC, July 29, 2015 – Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) have entered into a new global collaboration to discover, develop and commercialize new antibody cancer treatments in the field of immuno-oncology. Sanofi has committed to an initial investment of up to $2.17 billion in the exclusive collaboration, including $640 million in upfront payments to Regeneron and a potential sales milestone of $375 million. Covington advised Regeneron on the deal. The two companies will develop REGN2810, a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor currently in Phase 1 testing, and plan to initiate clinical trials in 2016 with new therapeutic candidates from a number of ongoing, preclinical programs.

Under the agreement, Sanofi will make an upfront payment to Regeneron of $640 million and the companies will invest $1 billion for discovery through proof of concept development (usually a Phase 2a study) of monotherapy and novel combinations of immuno-oncology antibody candidates to be funded 25 percent by Regeneron and 75 percent by Sanofi. The companies have also committed to equally fund an additional $650 million for development of REGN2810. Finally, the companies have agreed to re-allocate $75 million over three years for immuno-oncology antibodies from Sanofi’s contribution to their existing antibody collaboration. 

Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) is a leading science-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, invents, develops, manufactures, and commercializes medicines for the treatment of serious medical conditions. Sanofi (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) is a global healthcare leader that discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions focused on patients’ needs.

The Covington team was led by John Hurvitz, Lina Gugucheva and Jessica Milner.  The Regeneron legal team was led by George Fraley.