- Deal follows acquisitions of Vicebio and BluePrint Medicines
- Sanofi keen to diversify growth beyond asthma drug Dupixent
- Expects to finalise Dynavax deal in Q1, 2026
- Dynavax shares soar 37% in US pre-market hours
Dec 24 (Reuters) - Sanofi will buy U.S. vaccines company Dynavax Technologies for around $2.2 billion (1.9 billion euros), the French drugmaker said on Wednesday, a deal that will give it access to an approved hepatitis B vaccine.
Sanofi has made a string of acquisitions this year, as it looks to diversify growth beyond its blockbuster asthma drug Dupixent. It bought UK private biotech firm Vicebio for $1.5 billion in July shortly after finalising an up to $9.5 billion deal for U.S.-based rare disease drugmaker BluePrint Medicines.
The company will pay $15.50 in cash per share of Dynavax, representing a 39% premium over the vaccine maker's closing share price of $11.13 on Tuesday. Shares of Dynavax jumped 37.5% to $15.31 in U.S. pre-market hours on Wednesday.
Sanofi said it expected to complete the acquisition in the first quarter of 2026 and said it would use available cash. The deal would not affect its 2025 financial outlook, it added.
Its shares slipped 0.5% .
DECLINING VACCINATION RATES
The deal marks Sanofi's second acquisition this year to expand its vaccine portfolio and comes at a time of major policy overhauls in the U.S.
Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has taken aim at vaccines, cutting funding for research and ousting the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which makes vaccine recommendations. Advisers recently scrapped a long-standing recommendation that all American newborns receive the hepatitis B shot.
Earlier this year, Sanofi had flagged lower vaccination rates partly due to a "negative buzz" around vaccines.
British rival GSK had also flagged pressure in U.S. vaccine sales, and Australian biotech CSL delayed plans to spin off its vaccine division citing "heightened volatility" and a greater than expected decline in U.S. rates.
A GOOD FIT
The deal will give Sanofi access to an experimental shingles vaccine, which is in early stage testing. J.P. Morgan analysts said it would be a good fit for the drugmaker.
"Z-1018 does offer potential for upside to this picture if the early data can be replicated in larger trials," they said in a note, adding that Dynavax's experimental shot had potential to take a share in the shingles market, where GSK's Shringix is on track for sales of 4 billion euros this year.
Separately, Sanofi said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had declined to approve its experimental drug tolebrutinib to treat patients with a form of multiple sclerosis.
"We believe that the FDA should also take the advice of scientific experts, clinicians, and patients in this matter to ensure all perspectives are considered," said Houman Ashrafian, Sanofi's head of research and development.
The FDA decision adds to a year of data from its experimental drugs for eczema and smoker's lung that disappointed investors. Sanofi's shares have largely underperformed the broader European sector index.
Jefferies analyst Michael Leuchten said that the decision could hurt investor sentiment further, and raised questions on the management's credibility.
(1 euro = $1.1789)
Reporting by Lucie Barbier in Gdansk, Bhanvi Satija in London and Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Alex Richardson and Emelia Sithole-Matarise
Source: Reuters