Sanofi buys US speciality drug company for €3bn

Sanofi is paying $100 per share in cash for the US firm, a premium of 10% to Principia’s closing price on August 14, and hopes for a fourth-quarter completion

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French drugmaker Sanofi – which is a significant employer in the south-east at its Sanofi Genzyme plant in Waterford - is dipping into coffers filled by recent disposals to buy US-based Principia Biopharma for $3.7bn (€3.1bn) as it fills its medicine cabinet with speciality drug prospects from smaller companies.

The acquisition gives the French drugmaker Principia’s pipeline in autoimmune diseases. They include a drug aimed at the rare but painful skin condition pemphigus and another against multiple sclerosis that the two companies have partnered on since 2017.