Sanofi Acquires Amunix Pharmaceuticals for $1 Billion

Sanofi announced on Dec. 21, 2021, that it agreed to acquire Amunix Pharmaceuticals, an immuno-oncology company, for approximately $1 billion, with an additional payment of $225 million contingent on various developmental milestones. Amunix’s portfolio includes conditionally-activated biologics in the field of immuno-oncology.

Amunix’s lead candidate is AMX-818, a masked human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-directed T-cell engager (TCE). According to a Sanofi press release, Amunix’s proprietary XTEN polypeptide masks allow biologics to become active preferentially in disease-specific micro-environments. This effect is designed to overcome challenges associated with TCE bi-specific antibodies for solid tumors, including unwanted immune attack of normal healthy cells and systematic widespread immune system activation.

“The Amunix technology platform utilizes a next generation smart biologics approach to precisely tailor-deliver medicines to become active only in tumor tissues while sparing normal tissues, thus bringing the promise of more effective and safer treatment options for cancer patients,” said John Reed, global head of research and development, Sanofi, in the press release. “We are excited to rapidly advance Amunix’s promising pipeline and to combine their innovative candidate medicines with complementary molecules in Sanofi’s immuno-oncology portfolio.”