The French pharma giant has made multiple trips to the artificial intelligence well over the past few years, this time with Delaware-based Earendial Labs.
Sanofi continues to plant its artificial intelligence roots, signing a licensing deal potentially worth more than $1.8 billion with Earendil Labs for two bispecific antibodies.
Earendil, a Delaware-based AI research and development company focused on biologics, will get a $125 million upfront payment from Sanofi. Down-the-road development and commercial milestones could add as much as $1.72 billion, plus tiered royalties on sales.
The antibodies are called HXN-1002 and HXN-1003. The first targets α4β7, an immune homing signal in the gut, and TL1A, an endothelial growth factor, for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The second antibody, aimed at colitis, skin inflammation and potentially other autoimmune diseases, targets TL1A and IL23, an inflammatory cytokine that’s a common target for existing autoimmune drugs, including J&J’s Stelara and Tremfya.
“These diseases often require life-long treatment, severely impacting patients’ quality of life and significantly increasing the societal burden,” Earendil’s president and co-CEO Zhenping Zhu said in a statement. “Though multiple agents have been approved for clinical treatment, their efficacy often remains limited, highlighting significant unmet medical needs.”
Earendil for its part is rather mysterious. The company, named for a Lord of the Rings character, incorporated just a few months ago, in December 2024, and does not appear to have any publications or much drug discovery presence. In the press release announcing the deal, Earendil said it is an affiliate of Helixon Therapeutics, a Chinese biotech focused on high-throughput optimization of antibodies.
Biopharmas are trying to tap into AI to discover new targets and molecules, and Sanofi has a deeper commitment than many. In 2022, the company opened an “Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence” in Toronto to add to its suite of research hubs. Later that same year, Sanofi inked a deal with the BioMed X Institute in Germany, creating a new research group within the institute to develop a computational platform for discovering new drug candidates.
Most recently, Sanofi joined with Formation Bio and OpenAI in 2024 to collaborate on creating AI-driven software to accelerate drug development, with no specific drugs, modalities, or financials announced at the time.
Sanofi has also been active outside of the AI space, spending $110 million in September last year to license a radioligand therapy for neuroendocrine tumors, for example, and $326 million a month later for another radioligand from Orano Med and RadioMedix, with no disease targets announced.
The Earendil deal comes directly on the heels of Sanofi announcing the Phase II failure of an asthma drug obtained through the acquisition of Kymab for $1.4 billion in 2021. Despite the disappointing results, Sanofi said it will continue development of the drug in asthma in addition to atopic dermatitis, celiac disease and more.
