Sanofi to acquire Kiadis NV and its innovative K-NK-cell platform.

Sanofi and Kiadis Pharma N.V. announce that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Sanofi will offer to acquire all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Kiadis at a price per Kiadis share of €5.45 in cash (272% premium to the closing price on 30 October 2020), representing an aggregate adjusted equity value of approximately €308 million. The Kiadis Management Board and Supervisory Board unanimously approve the intended transaction and recommend the Offer to holders of Kiadis’ Shares. John Reed, M.D., Ph.D., Global Head of Research and Development of Sanofi, commented, “We believe Kiadis’ ‘off the shelf’ K-NK cell technology platform will have broad application against liquid and solid tumors, and create synergies with Sanofi’s emerging immuno-oncology pipeline, providing opportunities for us to pursue potential best-in-disease approaches.” Strategic rationale: Innovative K-NK-cell Platform: Kiadis’ proprietary platform is based on allogeneic or ‘off-the-shelf' NK-cells from a healthy donor. NK-cells seek and identify malignant cancer cells and have broad application across various tumor types. The platform has the potential to make products rapidly and economically available for a broad patient population across a wide range of indications. Kiadis’ NK cell-based medicines will be developed alone and in combination with Sanofi’s existing platforms. Complementary Strong Science to Generate First-in-Class Medicines and Strategic Fit Across Core Therapeutic Areas: Sanofi’s research, development, manufacturing and commercial expertise will be leveraged to advance Kiadis’ pipeline, which includes NK-cell-based medicines for the treatment of patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant, liquid and solid tumors, as well as infectious disease. In July 2020, Sanofi licensed Kiadis’ pre-clinical K-NK004 program for multiple myeloma.