BRIEF—Sanofi reportedly eyeing up buy of Mirati

French pharma major Sanofi is exploring a potential acquisition of cancer drugmaker Mirati Therapeutics, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, and other media reports.

Mirati is in the process of rolling out its first product to patients, the lung-cancer drug Krazati (adagrasib).

Shares of the San Diego-based company surged 45% on Thursday following Bloomberg’s report on the deliberations, giving it a market value of $4.2 billion.

Representatives for Mirati and Sanofi declined to comment on market rumors.

While not speculating on the validity of this rumor, Leerink Partners analyst believes that there could be significant strategic value in the company, particularly in light of the negative Lumakras AdCom, which could leave the second line KRASG12C indication less competitive and as a potentially billion-dollar+ opportunity worldwide.

Dr Berens also thinks Mirati’s MTA-cooperative PRTM5 inhibitor, MRTX1719, on which the company presented initial clinical data validating the class during its latest earnings release, may represent a large component of the strategic value, as this class could target a very large addressable market.