Is Sanofi making a move into obesity? French pharma invests $27M into Ventyx

For the past few years, Sanofi has stayed out of the obesity drug development bonanza, taking a wait-and-see approach while keeping an eye on potential next-generation therapies. On Monday, however, the French pharma giant made what could be an early move: a $27 million investment in small, San Diego-based Ventyx Biosciences. The deal comes with exclusive right of first negotiation on the biotech’s drug VTX3232, an NLRP3 inhibitor being tested in obesity as well as neuroinflammatory conditions. Ventyx’s shares $VTYX were up about 16% before the opening bell. In many ways, VTX3232’s development program matches up nicely with Sanofi’s current focus. The French drugmaker has turned much of its attention to inflammation and immunology, as well as CNS diseases like multiple sclerosis. Ventyx expects Phase 2a data on the drug in early Parkinson’s disease and Phase 2 data in obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors next year. In Parkinson’s, Sanofi has an early-stage experimental medicine in development with collaborator ABL Bio. Ventyx’s oral, CNS-penetrant drug also has potential in Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and other areas, the company has said. Sanofi’s announcement says the deal comes with “certain VTX3232 program rights,” but the company didn’t immediately respond to an Endpoints News inquiry Monday about which indications it’s interested in. Sanofi’s VC arm is an investor in another NLRP3 inhibitor biotech named NodThera, which is also exploring the mechanism’s potential in obesity. Novo Nordisk, meanwhile, is looking at NLRP3 for MASH and other cardiometabolic uses. Executives at Sanofi have previously said they don’t want to be involved in “me-too” obesity drugs. Getting into the GLP-1 space would take years of R&D and significant manufacturing expenses, executives have said. But they’ve signaled interest in next-generation approaches. “There are genetic signals on where to dig for obesity drugs 2.0,” Sanofi’s head of R&D Houman Ashrafian said at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in January. Paul Hudson During the company’s annual general meeting in April, CEO Paul Hudson defended Sanofi’s emphasis on inflammation and immunology, comparing it to the level of investment that other drugmakers have made in obesity. “I can tell you that almost every other major company sees what we’re doing in immunology as the level of obesity,” Hudson said. “They’re being asked by their own shareholders, ‘Why did you miss immunology of the scale that Sanofi is going after?’ You have to pick your areas where you think you can win, where you have expertise.” If Sanofi moves forward with VTX3232 in obesity, it could mark its first significant foray into the area in many years. The company had an obesity drug in the 2000s, snagging an approval in Europe for a CB1 drug called Acomplia, but the company pulled the medicine because of concerning psychiatric side effects. Other drugmakers are testing next-generation CB1-targeting medicines for obesity, aiming to stave off those concerning side effects, but Novo Nordisk’s attempt in the area ran into hurdles in a Phase 2 study last Friday. For Ventyx, the move comes two months after its TYK2 inhibitor failed a Crohn’s disease Phase 2 trial, leading the company to shelve the asset known as VTX958.

Is Sanofi making a move into obesity? French pharma invests $27M into Ventyx

Kyle LaHucik

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Viridian Therapeutics

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Is Sanofi mak­ing a move in­to obe­si­ty? French phar­ma in­vests $27M in­to Ven­tyx

Senior Reporter

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Viridian Therapeutics

Waltham, MA, USA

Is Sanofi making a move into obesity? French pharma invests $27M into Ventyx