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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Regeneron Gains On Collaboration With Sanofi


Bloomberg

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., an unprofitable biotechnology company, rose the most in almost two years in Nasdaq trading after expanding a drug-development collaboration with Sanofi-Aventis SA.

Regeneron gained $3.16, or 20 percent, to $18.96 at 9:44 a.m. New York time, the biggest percentage gain since Nov. 29, 2007. Before today, the Tarrytown, New York-based company had fallen 14 percent this year, underperforming a 12 percent gain in the 78-member Standard & Poor’s SmallCap Health-Care Index.

Sanofi, of Paris, said late yesterday that it will boost its annual commitment to Regeneron to $160 million from $100 million and extend the partnership to 2017. Regeneron will get as much as $250 million from Sanofi, more than its revenue for all of last year, if the products they are developing for cancer, pain and arthritis pain management are approved and top $1 billion in sales outside the U.S.

Regeneron’s only marketed product is Arcalyst, a treatment for rare inflammatory conditions, and arithritis pain relief. The company reported a net loss of $82.7 million last year and hasn’t had an annual profit since 2004, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sanofi is the company’s largest shareholder, with a 19 percent stake as of a December 2007 filing.