Sanofi and DiCE Molecules ink collaboration worth as much as $2.3 billion

French pharma major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) and DiCE Molecules, a newly-launched, privately held US company, today announced a five-year global collaboration to create pill versions of therapies to replace injections.

The aim is to discover potential new therapeutics for up to 12 targets that encompass all disease areas of strategic interest to Sanofi, which could generate revenues of as much as $2.3 billion for the start-up. The main areas of focus are on cancer, heart disease, rare diseases and diabetes.

The collaboration builds upon DiCE's unique technology platform, which leverages directed evolution to select and optimize low molecular weight compounds against any target. The platform's capabilities include the potential to unlock protein-protein interfaces that were previously unreachable for oral therapies.