Regeneron buys cancer drug from Sanofi for €1bn              

The Regeneron Pharmaceuticals headquarters in Limerick

Regeneron, the US pharma giant which employs 1,400 people in Limerick, has agreed to buy the immune-oncology drug Libtayo from partner Sanofi for as much as $1.1bn (€1bn), revisiting a deal that helped the French company re-enter the field of cancer research.

Sanofi will get an upfront payment of $900m to transfer all rights to Libtayo to its US partner and stands to get another $200m in milestone payments if the drug reaches certain regulatory and sales targets.