Sanofi expands transplant business with $1.9 billion acquisition

Shares of USA-based biopharma Kadmon Holdings (Nasdaq: KDMN) shot up nearly 74% to $9.21 pre-market today, after French pharma major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) revealed that it had reached agreement to acquire the company.

Sanofi says the acquisition supports its strategy to continue to grow its General Medicines core assets and will immediately add Rezurock (belumosudil) to its transplant portfolio. Rezurock is a recently Food and Drug Administration-approved, first-in-class treatment for chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) for adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older who have failed at least two prior lines of systemic therapy.

Financial terms