Sanofi, a French-based pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, has purchased Provention Bio Inc. in a $2.9 billion deal aiming to drive Sanofi’s portfolio of diabetes medicines with a new therapy recently approved in the U.S.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Provention’s Tzield to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes in adults and children eight years and older who have abnormal blood sugar levels but who haven’t yet received a clinical diagnosis. Provention’s experimental therapies also include drugs targeting celiac disease and lupus. Sanofi will get a new medicine to complement its older diabetes therapies based on insulin. The deal is Sanofi’s biggest since its acquisition of Principia Biopharma Inc. for over $3 billion in 2020.
PJT Partners is acting as financial adviser to Sanofi and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP as legal counsel. BofA Securities Inc. and Centerview Partners LLC are financial advisers for Provention, while Ropes & Gray LLP is the firm’s legal counsel.