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 The French drugmaker has hired John Reed, the former top scientist
at oncology market leader Roche to head its group research
operations. And it is now focusing on a pipeline of 10 medicines
that it hopes will help it get a piece of the $100 billion-a-year
cancer drug market.
Dmitri Wiederschain, head of Sanofi's immuno-oncology research,
acknowledged the company had failed to capitalize on the takeoff of
immunotherapy - drugs that activate the body's immune system to
attack tumor cells - in the early 2010s.
But he said the group could now gain an edge in the next waves of
immunotherapy treatments, which include combining different drugs to
better target cancer.
"It is of course a very competitive space but we now have
'foundation assets' to form a better rationale for combinations," he
told Reuters in an interview, citing immunotherapy approaches known
as PD-1, TGFBeta and the antibody CD38.
"If you look across the biopharmaceutical landscape, Sanofi is the
only company which has all three assets in its own pipeline or
partnered with Regeneron," Wiederschain said. Sanofi teamed with U.S
firm Regeneron in 2007 to increase its presence in biotech medicine.
Immunotherapy is the fastest-growing part of the cancer drug
segment, with sales expected to top $25 billion-a-year by 2021,
according to analyst forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters.
Frederic Ponchon, a manager at Sycomore Asset Management which holds
6.7 million Sanofi shares, said the French company was unlikely to
rival cancer leaders like Switzerland's Roche and U.S. firm Merck &
Co soon.
"They could enjoy occasional breakthroughs but it won't carry a lot
of weight in their overall sales," he said.
"We can see that Sanofi takes cancer seriously but you must remember
R&D cycles are very long. So I would say Sanofi won't be a great
player in oncology but it may have some successes from time to
time."
Sanofi's main business areas include drugs for diabetes, heart
diseases and vaccines, with cancer treatments making up only about 4
percent of sales. Its cancer drug sales totaled $1.7 billion last
year, compared with Roche's $25.9 billion.
CROWDED MARKET
Sanofi has not always been behind the curve in oncology; in the
1990s, it produced top-selling cancer drugs such as Taxotere and
Eloxatin.
However it has been seven years since the company launched its last
one, Zaltrap, which targets metastatic colorectal cancer and had
sales of 75 million euros ($87 million) last year.
In the meantime, companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck &
Co have developed their immunotherapy blockbusters. New treatments,
if successful, can fetch more than $100,000 a year.
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In Sanofi's current cancer pipeline, only one has made it to
regulatory review in the United States and the European Union:
immunotherapy agent cemiplimab to treat cutaneous squamous cell
carcinoma. Regeneron is its partner on the project.
The company expects to submit for U.S. regulatory review another of
its cancer candidates, isatuximab, to treat multiple myeloma later
this year or in early 2019.
With over 2,000 drugs in the cancer immunotherapy space, the
competitive landscape has never been more crowded as each firm seeks
its own proprietary version of often similar drugs.
"There is clearly huge market potential but also a very large number
of players, it is the toughest issue here," Nicolas Baudouin, a
director at ratings agency Standard & Poor's said of immunotherapy.
Many of the immunotherapy drugs work in only a minority of patients,
which companies hope to improve by combining drugs that target
tumors in different ways.
This area, where Sanofi says it can be successful, has proven a
challenge for drugmakers so far. Earlier this year, a study showed
an experimental drug developed by U.S Incyte had failed to bolster
the effectiveness of Merck's blockbuster Keytruda to treat skin
cancer patients.
Roche also failed a key combination trial last month in colorectal
cancer.
ACQUISITIONS
Wiederschain said molecular oncology, which targets a tumor based on
its genetic makeup, would also be a future differentiator.
"It is about understanding better what drives the growth of cancer
tissues, how the cells works and proliferation in the body."
This has led Sanofi to launch early-stage trials in breast cancer
using molecular oncology technology.
Newly appointed research chief Reed will start the job on July 1,
when industry veteran Elias Zerhouni retires.
Under Zerhouni's leadership, Sanofi has tried to improve research
and development productivity but still struggled to find enough new
products to offset the impact of weak diabetes drug sales.
It has also been looking to acquisitions to fill its pipeline.
It struck two big deals in January, agreeing to buy U.S haemophilia
specialist Bioverativ for $11.6 billion and Belgium's Ablynx, which
is developing an experimental drug for a rare blood disorder, for
3.9 billion euros.
(Editing by Elyse Tanouye and Pravin Char)
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