Sanofi To Buy Provention Bio For Around $2.9 Bln In Cash

(RTTNews) - Sanofi (SNYNF, SNY), a French pharma and healthcare firm, said on Monday that it has inked a deal to buy Provention Bio, Inc. (PRVB) for $25 per share in cash or around $2.9 billion.

According to the deal, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter, Sanofi will commence a cash tender offer to acquire all shares of Provention. The acquirer is planning to fund the transaction with available cash resources.

With the deal, Sanofi will add Provention Bio's TZIELD, the first disease-modifying treatment for the delay of Stage 3 type 1 diabetes or T1D, to its core asset portfolio in general medicines.

TZIELD (teplizumab-mzwv) was approved in the U.S. last year as the first and only therapy to delay the onset of Stage 3 T1D in adults and pediatric patients aged 8 years and older with Stage 2 T1D.

"…The acquisition is a strategic fit for Sanofi at the intersection of the company's growth in immune-mediated diseases and disease-modifying therapies in areas of high unmet need, and its expertise in diabetes," Sanofi said in a statement.