Sanofi and IGM Biosciences Inc. in $6.15bn deal

Under the agreement, IGM Biosciences Inc. (Mountain View) will discover IgM antibody agonists against three oncology targets and three immunology/inflammation targets. Sanofi will pay $150m upfront and potential milestones totalling $6bn for all six multi-valent IgM antibodies brought to market. Sanofi has also expressed an interest in purchasing up to $100M of IGM non-voting common stock in a public financing. Sanofi receives the global commercialisation rights for multivalent antibodies developed by IGM Bioscience.

Engineered IgM antibodies represent a new class of potential therapeutics that combine the multi-valency of IgM antibodies possessing ten binding sites compared to conventional IgG antibodies having only two target binding sites. IGM antibodies can bind very strongly to difficult targets and targets that are less common on the surface of targeted cells. They can also bind to multiple targets simultaneously on the surface of tumour cells and create apoptotic signals that ultimately lead to the death of cancer cells. Further, the ten binding units of an IgM antibody can neutralise the ability of viruses to infect cells. Most importantly, stronger binding may potentially translate to better clinical responses and greater efficacy for patients.

Global Head of Research and Development, Sanofi, John Reed, said: “The IGM Biosciences technology platform offers an exciting approach to developing high-avidity IgM antibodies that can efficiently bind and stimulate the activity of cell surface receptors. This unique platform has the potential to overcome historical limitations of conventional IgG antibodies when seeking agonists of some classes of receptors.”

For each oncology target collaboration program, IGM will lead research and development activities, and assume related costs, through approval of the first biologics license application (BLA) for a product directed to that oncology target by the FDA or EMA in exchange for up to $940M in development and regulatory milestones per oncology target. After receipt of the first marketing approval for a product directed to an oncology target, Sanofi will lead all subsequent development and commercialization activities for that oncology target. For each oncology target, the companies will share profits 50:50 in certain major markets, and IGM will be eligible to receive tiered royalties on net sales in the rest of world.

For each immunology/inflammation target collaboration program, IGM will lead research and development activities, and assume related costs, through the completion of Phase 1 clinical trial for up to two constructs directed to each immunology/inflammation target, after which Sanofi will be responsible for all future development and related costs, in exchange for up to $1,065 million Sanofi will be responsible for subsequent development activities, commercialization efforts, and related costs. IGM is eligible to receive tiered high single-digit to low-teen royalties on global net sales.

About IGM Biosciences, Inc.

Headquartered in Mountain View, California, IGM Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on creating and developing engineered IgM antibodies. Since 2010, IGM Biosciences has worked to overcome the manufacturing and protein engineering hurdles that have limited the therapeutic use of IgM antibodies. Through its efforts, IGM Biosciences has created a proprietary IgM technology platform for the development of IgM antibodies for those clinical indications where their inherent properties may provide advantages as compared to IgG antibodies.

IGM is listed on NASDAQ; IGMS