In the latest move to cement its “immunology powerhouse” status, Sanofi is handing over $600 million upfront for Dren Bio’s clinical-stage bispecific antibody, with more than $1 billion in biobucks also attached to the deal.
The CD20-directed antibody, dubbed DR-0201, is a bispecific myeloid cell engager Dren has been evaluating in a phase 1 trial for B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. While the biotech has yet to announce any clinical results for the antibody, Sanofi implied in a March 20 release that it’s pleased with the “robust” B-cell depletion it has seen so far.
“Recent early clinical study data in autoimmune diseases suggest that deep B-cell depletion might have the potential to reset the adaptive immune system, leading to sustained treatment-free remission in patients with refractory B-cell mediated autoimmune diseases such as lupus, where significant unmet medical needs remain,” Sanofi said in the release.
Sanofi is paying $600 million upfront for the antibody, with a further $1.3 billion in development and launch milestones tied to the deal.
“Deep B-cell depletion is at the frontier of treating autoimmune diseases and using the myeloid cell engager DR-0201 has the potential to elevate the treatment effect for patients, in particular patients refractory to existing treatments,” Sanofi’s head of R&D, Houman Ashrafian, Ph.D., said in the release.
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“This is yet another important step in Sanofi’s ambition to bring breakthrough medicines to patients, and further strengthens our robust pipeline focused on the immune system,” Ashrafian added. “Through our own research and strategic licensing and acquisitions, we continue to advance our goal of becoming the leader in immunology.”
The biotech has also previously signed myeloid engager-focused pacts with the likes of Novartis and Pfizer. Dren remains a standalone biotech, saying in a statement it "will continue to operate independently to advance its pipeline of antibody therapeutics that selectively deplete pathogenic cells and other disease-causing agents."
Privately owned Dren has another antibody in development in the form of DR-01, which is designed to selectively deplete cytotoxic cells such as autoreactive CD8 T cells. DR-01 has been undergoing a phase 2 study in patients with cytotoxic lymphomas and various autoimmune indications.
Sanofi—which co-markets the anti-inflammatory blockbuster Dupixent with Regeneron—has been undergoing a major pipeline shakeup in an effort to become “an immunoscience powerhouse," according to an internal letter obtained by Fierce Biotech a year ago. In the pharma’s full-year earnings call in January 2025, Ashrafian reiterated this point, reminding investors that the company is becoming a “premier immunology powerhouse” with the option to combine various molecules it is developing in this space.
Dren Bio’s CEO and co-founder Nenad Tomasevic said in this morning’s release that as “a leader in immunology” Sanofi was “ideally positioned to unlock the power of deep B-cell depletion and immune reset for autoimmune patients with this novel myeloid cell engager.”