Rival European pharma giants Sanofi and GSK have both forged new partnerships to bolster their preclinical research. Paris-based Sanofi is investing in a U.S. biotech’s autoimmune research, while GSK has tapped a fellow British outfit to discover new cancer antibodies.
Both deals were announced by their respective biotech partners on Dec. 10. Specific financial details were not disclosed for either deal.
Sanofi’s new partnership is with InduPro Therapeutics, a preclinical biotech based in Seattle and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The French pharma has made an equity investment in InduPro, and will fund and collaborate on investigational new drug application-enabling studies for the biotech’s bispecific PD-1 agonist antibodies. In return, Sanofi will have a first look at picking up any successfully developed candidates.
“Sanofi’s know-how and global leadership position in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases make them the ideal partner to bring this exciting first-in-class molecule forward,” InduPro CEO Prakash Raman, Ph.D., said in the release.
InduPro’s lead autoimmune bispecific, IDP-003, targets PD-1 and T-cell antigen 2. The biotech, which raised an $85 million series A in June 2024, also has several early programs in cancer. Sanofi is now the biotech’s first publicly disclosed pharma partner.
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GSK is also making a play for new antibodies, though the pharma’s focus is on cancer. The London-based drugmaker is teaming up with Oxford BioTherapeutics to use the latter’s platform to discover potential targets for first-in-class antibodies.
Oxford BioTherapeutics is receiving an upfront payment, with milestones and royalties available down the road depending on the collaboration’s success. If promising targets are found, GSK will take over further research, development and commercialization responsibilities.
“This marks our second major collaboration with a leading global pharma this year—a testament to the growing recognition of our proprietary discovery platform,” Oxford BioTherapeutics CEO Christian Rohlff, Ph.D., said in the release, referencing a May deal with Roche potentially worth as much as $1 billion.
GSK was drawn in by Oxford BioTherapeutics’ “best-in-class proteomics platform,” dubbed OGAP-Verify, the pharma’s senior vice president of research technologies, Chris Austin, M.D., said in the release.
Oncology outfit Oxford BioTherapeutics has several assets in the clinic and is no stranger to pharma team-ups. In addition to Roche, the biotech also has ongoing collaborations with Boehringer Ingelheim, Zymeworks, Immunogen and Agenus.
