Sanofi to acquire Ablynx for €3.9 Billion

Sanofi and Ablynx engaged in the discovery and development of Nanobodies forayed into an agreement under which Sanofi will extend acquisition of all of the outstanding ordinary shares, including shares represented by American Depositary Shares (ADSs), warrants and convertible bonds of Ablynx at a price per Ablynx share of €45 in cash.

Sanofi’s Chief Executive Officer Olivier Brandicourt commented, “With Ablynx, we continue to advance the strategic transformation of our Research and Development, expanding our late-stage pipeline and strengthening our platform for growth in rare blood disorders. This acquisition builds on a successful existing partnership. We are also pleased to reaffirm our commitment to Belgium, where we have invested significantly over the years in our state-of-the-art biologics manufacturing facility in Geel. We intend to maintain and support the Ablynx science center in Ghent.”

Nanobodies are a novel class of proprietary next generation biologicals.  Ablynx is at the leading edge of Nanobody technology supporting a deep pipeline of more than 45 proprietary and partnered candidates for a wide range of therapeutic areas such as hematology, inflammation, immuno-oncology and respiratory diseases. Eight Nanobodies have entered clinical development.