French drug major Sanofi (SNYNF,SNY) Wednesday said it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to buy Kadmon Holdings, Inc. (KDMN), the developer of Rezurock, a recently FDA-approved treatment for chronic graft-versus-host disease.<\/p>\n
In the deal, Kadmon shareholders will receive $9.50 per share in cash, which represents a total equity value of approximately $1.9 billion.<\/p>\n
The offer price represents a premium of 79 percent over the closing price on September 7 and a premium of approximately 113 percent over the 60 trading days volume weighted average price.<\/p>\n
The transaction is expected to be modestly dilutive to Sanofi’s earnings per share in 2022. The Sanofi and Kadmon Boards of Directors unanimously approved the transaction.<\/p>\n
Subject to the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions, Sanofi expects to complete the acquisition in the fourth quarter of 2021.<\/p>\n
The acquisition supports Sanofi’s strategy to continue to grow its General Medicines core assets and will immediately add Rezurock(belumosudil) to its transplant portfolio. Rezurock is a recently FDA-approved, first-in-class treatment for chronic graft-versus-host disease or cGVHD for adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older who have failed at least two prior lines of systemic therapy.<\/p>\n
Rezurock is the first and only approved small molecule therapy that inhibits the Rho-associated coiled-coil kinase 2 (ROCK2), a signaling pathway that modulates inflammatory response and fibrotic processes.<\/p>\n
Sanofi said it will work closely with regulatory authorities across different geographies to ensure that patients suffering from cGVHD can benefit from belumosudil treatment as early as possible.<\/p>\n
Kadmon is also developing Rezurock for the treatment of diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis, with an open-label Phase 2 clinical trial currently ongoing.<\/p>\n
Kadmon’s pipeline includes drug candidates for immune and fibrotic diseases as well as immuno-oncology therapies.<\/p>\n
Following the successful completion of the merger, a Sanofi unit will merge with Kadmon. Sanofi plans to fund the transaction with available cash resources. <\/p>\n