Sanofi to launch 20+ new drugs in Japan by 2020

Japan is likely to see more than 20 new drugs from French pharma major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) by 2020, said the newly-appointed Sanofi Japan chief executive Jacques Nathan at a press meeting held in Tokyo earlier this month.

Among these new drugs, which include existing drugs for new indications, “a significant amount will be biologics,” said Mr Nathan, reports Wang Fangqing, The Pharma Letter’s correspondent.

Six drugs, including three monoclonal antibodies, are expected to be the driving force for the company’s future sales in Japan. They are cholesterol-lowerer Praluent (alirocumab) launched in September; the type2 diabetes treatment insulin Lantus XR (insulin glargine [rDNA origin] injection, known as Toujeo in the USA and European Union, launched in September 2015 ; the rheumatoid arthritis treatment sarilumab, approval of which has been delayed in the USA by the Food and Drug Administration, and is waiting for its new drug application approval from Japan’s pharmaceutical and medical devices agency (PMDA); Mozobil (plerixafor), the autologous transplant, received a NDA approval on November 11; Japan Penta, a 5-in-1 vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and hib disease, which is in Phase III trials; and dupilumab for atopic dermatitis, also in Phase III studies.