Sanofi to acquire Dren Bio’s bispecific myeloid cell engager DR-201

French pharma major Sanofi SA is set to acquire Dren Bio Inc’s Phase II-ready bispecific myeloid cell engager DR-201 for US$600m upfront and US$1.3bn in biobucks. According to Sanofi, Dren Bio’s CD20-specific B-cell depleter programme has shown robust B-cell depletion in pre-clinical and two ongoing Phase I studies, suggesting its potential to reset the immune system. DR-0201 engages specific tissue-resident and trafficking myeloid cells to induce B-cell depletion through targeted phagocytosis. DR-0201 has demonstrated a favourable preclinical safety profile in multiple non-human primate studies with no observed cytokine release syndrome or neurotoxicity.

DR-0201 is currently being evaluated in a Phase I study in B-NHL patients and is ready to be safety tested in various autoimmune indications.

According to Dren Bio, DR-201 is a bispecific antibody that induces potent depletion of pathogenic cells, protein aggregates, and other disease-causing agents by engaging a novel phagocytic receptor that is selectively expressed on myeloid cells. Bispecific antibodies generated from the platform are specifically engineered to enable controlled myeloid cell activation only in the presence of the target antigen, which may result in greater therapeutic indexes and offer superior safety profiles compared to other therapeutic modalities such as T-cell engagers and Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs).

After the deal is complete, Dren Bio will continue to independently develop antibody therapeutics that target and eliminate harmful cells and disease-causing agents. According to GlobalData, DR-0201 is under development for the treatment of hematologic neoplasms, including relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, autoimmune diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE), systemic sclerosis (scleroderma), polymyositis, dermatomyositis, primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS).

HBM Healthcare Investments, which holds a stake of around 9% in Dren Bio, assessed that the transaction will increase the net asset value per HBM share CHF 8.70 (+3.6%) with a cash inflow of approximately US$50m for HBM Healthcare Investments from the upfront payment.