Daiichi Sankyo drops out of vaccine alliance with Sanofi in Japan

31 March 2021

Daiichi Sankyo (TYO: 4568) today said that it will terminate its 2015 marketing alliance agreement for the Squarekids subcutaneous injection syringe, a tetravalent combination vaccine1 and its joint development agreement on pentavalent combination vaccine2 (VN-0105) with the local subsidiary of French pharma major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN), effective March 31, 2021.

Daiichi Sankyo, whose shares closed down 2.3% to 3,225 yen following the news, decided to suspend the production of Squarekids and its supply to the market due to a problem in the manufacture of pertussis vaccines, which it failed to resolve. In addition, Daiichi Sankyo will also end joint development efforts for VN-0105.

Daiichi Sankyo will incur a 15 billion-yen (~$138 million) loss as it compensates Sanofi for the loss sustained from the termination of the two agreements. The cost will be recorded in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020, and the impact of this decision will appear in the company’s consolidated financial results for this fiscal year at a later date.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK