Strategic M&A: Sanofi Buys Principia Biopharma For $3.7bn

Underscoring its determination to build a more focused pipeline, Sanofi is paying nearly $3.7bn in cash for Principia Biopharma, Inc. to acquire the US biotech’s proprietary R&D platform for immune-mediated diseases. The platform has so far produced three promising drug candidates, one of which has already emerged as a key element of the French group’s late-stage pipeline under a previous deal.

Sanofi said on 17 August that under the agreed takeover it would pay $100 per share in cash for Principia, representing a 10% premium on the previous trading day's closing price