Sanofi M&A punt soothes France’s Covid-19 shame

Telesis Bio

03/08/2021 10:59

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are her own.)
    By Aimee Donnellan
    LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The $131 bln
drugmaker bought U.S-listed Translate Bio for $3 bln. CEO Paul
Hudson gets a leg up in hot mRNA technology, which trounced the
French group’s traditional vaccines during the pandemic.
Shareholder returns look distant, but the cost of standing still
may be higher.    
    Full view will be published shortly.
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    CONTEXT NEWS
    - Sanofi on Aug. 3 said it had agreed to buy Translate
Bio in a deal valuing the U.S. biotechnology company at $3.2
billion. 
    - Sanofi said it would acquire all outstanding shares of
Translate Bio, which specialises in so-called messenger RNA
treatments, for $38 per share in cash. 
    - Sanofi and Translate Bio have been working together since
2018 and joined forces last year to develop a vaccine for
Covid-19. They expect interim results for phase 1 and 2 clinical
trials in the third quarter. 
     - Shares in Sanofi were up 0.22% at 86.97 euros by 0733 GMT
on Aug. 3. 

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
UPDATE 3-Sanofi to buy U.S. mRNA partner Translate Bio in $3.2
bln deal     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2PA0BI
Sanofi statement    https://www.sanofi.com/-/media/Project/One-Sanofi-Web/Websites/Global/Sanofi-COM/Home/media-room/press-releases/2021/2021-08-03-07-00-00-2273307-en.pdf
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Editing by Neil Unmack and Oliver Taslic)
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