French Healthcare company Sanofi has agreed to buy Principa Biopharma for $3.7 billion, making this deal the second largest pharmaceutical acquisition this year after Gilead Sciences Inc agreed to pay $4.9 billion to buy cancer therapy marker Forty Seven Inc. in March.
Principa Biopharma is known for developing therapies for serious immune mediated diseases. By acquiring Principa, Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson aims to challenge Roche, a swiss multinational healthcare company. Moreover, this acquisition will strengthen Sanofi's research capabilities in areas such as autoimmune and allergic diseases.
This acquisition will also help Sanofi speed along development at a moment when the time it takes to get drugs to market has become a key part of the healthcare discussion. As Sanofi's CEO said, "This acquisition advances our ongoing R&D transformation to accelerate development of the most promising medicines that will address significant patient needs."
Sanofi is expected to complete the acquisition of Principa Biopharma by the end of the fourth quarter of 2020.