Sanofi SA is to acquire Kymab Ltd of the UK in order to gain full rights to a monoclonal antibody therapy, KY1005, with potential for treating a wide variety of immune-mediated and inflammatory disorders. The French pharma group is to pay $1.1 billion upfront for the company in addition to milestone payments of up to $350 million. The lead asset reported positive data from a Phase 2a study of patients with atopic dermatitis in August 2020. The same molecule is being studied in acute graft-vs-host disease and other immune disorders.

The European Commission has granted a conditional marketing authorisation for a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Moderna Inc based on clinical data showing an efficacy rate of 94.1%. The vaccine, COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna, is to be administered to people from 18 years of age. It is the second Covid-19 vaccine to be approved by the EU following a recommendation by the European Medicines Agency. The first was a vaccine developed by BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. Both vaccines are based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.