Kiadis Pharma NV

Sanofi confirmed Wednesday that chief scientific officer Frank Nestle is leaving the company. His departure represents one of the more high-level exits from the French drugmaker as it continues its research pivot away from oncology and increasingly toward immunology and inflammation.The company did not specify when Nestle would be leaving or who would be succeeding him. "Over the past eight years, Frank has shown outstanding leadership and a strong commitment to advancing new medicines on behalf of patients," said Houman Ashrafian, Sanofi's global head of R&D, in a statement to FirstWord. "He has played a key role in building a best-in-class research organisation at Sanofi and…we are enormously grateful…for his contributions to the R&D organisation."A clinician by training with a focus on dermatology, Nestle joined Sanofi in 2016 as the global head of the immunology therapeutic research area and CSO for its North America business. Four years later, he was promoted to global research head and CSO of the entire company.The exit follows a number of moves by Sanofi to pivot its R&D, including walking away from the oncology portion of its antibody discovery pact with IGM Biosciences. It has also confirmed plans to close down Dutch biotech Kiadis Pharma, acquired in 2021 for its allogeneic NK cell technology platform, and is in the process of offloading a site and assets associated with immuno-oncology specialist Amunix Pharmaceuticals.Meanwhile, Nestle has also been a supporter of the integration of AI in drug development. In a recent podcast with the MIT Sloan Management Review, Nestle discussed merging the technology with traditional methods in drug discovery, likening AI to an additional "chemist around the table.""If you have AI at play and you use generative algorithms, then you can literally go through not millions, but hundreds of millions of potential structures and then optimise them. So it's just an order of magnitude larger of what we used to do," he said.

Sanofi dropped the oncology-focused portion of its antibody discovery deal with IGM Biosciences, nearly halving the overall value from $6 billion to $3.2 billion. IGM is the latest to feel the effects of the French pharma pulling back from cancer as it ups its commitment to immunology instead.   Last week, Sanofi shuttered a pair of oncology acquisitions: Kiadis Pharma was closed down three years after its €308 million ($331 million) buyout; and a site and assets associated with Amunix Pharmaceuticals – bought for $1 billion upfront in 2022 – were offloaded.IGM is also the second biotech in a week to lose out on billions in biobucks from a cancer deal struck years ago. Roche's Genentech unit terminated a $3-billion collaboration with Adaptimmune Therapeutics to develop T-cell therapies for cancer, for which it had paid $150 million upfront in 2021. For more analysis, see Vital Signs: Roche’s retreat from cell therapy.IGM’s story is a bit more positive, as Sanofi will stick with the antibody developer for three immunology/inflammation targets. New deal termsUnder their initial 2022 deal, Sanofi paid $150 million upfront to develop IgM antibodies against six targets, half for cancer and the other half for immune or inflammation-related diseases. IGM had agreed to lead R&D activities for the three oncology targets through to approval in the US or EU and was eligible for up to $940 million in milestones per target. Now, IGM will retain global rights related to the cancer targets nominated by Sanofi.The biotech will continue to head up R&D for the immunology/inflammation targets through to the completion of a Phase I trial for up to two constructs directed to each target, after which Sanofi will handle all future development and related costs. IGM stands to gain nearly $1.1 billion in development, regulatory and commercial milestones per target, as well as tiered high-single-digit to low-teen royalties on global net sales.

Sanofi has confirmed plans to close down Kiadis Pharma, three years after it acquired the Dutch biotech and its allogeneic NK cell technology platform for €308 million ($331 million)."Despite exhaustive efforts to explore potential divestment options, including sale, we are proposing to close the legacy Kiadis business," a Sanofi spokesperson said in an emailed statement to FirstWord. "This proposal was made after careful consideration of various factors, including market conditions and strategic priorities."Sanofi had heralded the acquisition saying Kiadis' NK cell technology platform would have "broad application against liquid and solid tumours, and create synergies with Sanofi's emerging immuno-oncology pipeline."The French drugmaker's pipeline lists one clinical-stage NK programme from Kiadis, SAR445419, a product derived from universal donor NK cells and in early-stage development up until recently. An April 8 update on ClinicalTrials.gov lists the recruitment status of a Phase I study in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) as "terminated" due to "divestment of Kiadis."Meanwhile, a Phase II study of the treatment in patients with high-risk myeloid malignancies undergoing stem-cell transplant was "cancelled" by the sponsor, but the move was "not related to safety concern," according to a March 5 update on the ClinicalTrials.gov site.Last year, Sanofi's global head of business development Michael Palladinetti told FirstWord that the company was particularly focused on harnessing NK cells to treat cancer, citing a spate of deals it had signed in that domain such as with Scribe Therapeutics and Innate Pharma. See – ViewPoints: An inside look at Sanofi's BD strategy.However, the choice to shut down Kiadis aligns with Sanofi's planned shift in pipeline priorities. CEO Paul Hudson hinted at the JP Morgan Healthcare conference earlier this year that while Sanofi seeks to become the industry's leading immunology player, it planned to deprioritise oncology as an area of focus. "We are not out of oncology, but our bets are much earlier and that’s changed the tonality because it's a huge consumer of investment in R&D," he said at the time.