logo
Vigil Neuroscience to be acquired by Sanofi for $8.00 per share

Vigil Neuroscience to be acquired by Sanofi for $8.00 per share

Vigil Neuroscience (VIGL) and Sanofi (SNY) announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Sanofi will acquire Vigil for an upfront payment of $8.00 per share of common stock in cash. Vigil shareholders will also receive a non-tradeable contingent value right entitling the holder to potentially receive an additional $2.00 per share in cash payable following the first commercial sale of VG-3927 if achieved within a specific period. The total equity value of the transaction, including the potential CVR payment, represents approximately $600 million on a fully diluted basis. 'We are incredibly proud of the legacy we have built at Vigil and today's announcement is a testament to the value of our TREM2 agonist pipeline,' said Ivana Magovevi-Liebisch, Ph.D., J.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Vigil. 'Sanofi's development capabilities, therapeutic expertise, global footprint, and financial strength provide the greatest opportunity to further the development of VG-3927 for the potential treatment of Alzheimer's disease and potentially bring this important and differentiated therapy to those struggling with the immense burden of this disease.'
Confident Investing Starts Here:

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Regeneron, Sanofi presents results from DISCOVER Phase 4 trial of Dupixent
Regeneron, Sanofi presents results from DISCOVER Phase 4 trial of Dupixent

Business Insider

time3 hours ago

  • Business Insider

Regeneron, Sanofi presents results from DISCOVER Phase 4 trial of Dupixent

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) and Sanofi (SNY) presented results from the DISCOVER Phase 4, single-arm, open-label trial assessing Dupixent in adults and adolescents with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis with skin of color. These are the first clinical trial results for Dupixent in a large population of patients with darker skin tones. The results, along with the Dupixent Phase 3 trials, demonstrated patients taking Dupixent experienced improvements in signs and symptoms of atopic dermatitis from baseline across many skin tones. The data were shared in an oral presentation at the 2025 Revolutionizing Atopic Dermatitis, RAD, Conference. In the trial, 120 patients with atopic dermatitis and skin of color were treated with Dupixent every two weeks using a weight-based dosing regimen. At 24 weeks: 76% achieved a greater than or equal to75% improvement in overall disease severity, the primary endpoint. Improvements were seen by some patients as early as two weeks. 53% achieved clinically meaningful improvement in itch. Improvements were seen by some patients as early as two weeks. Patients experienced a 53% reduction from baseline in post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, dropping from 5.1 points to 2.4 points. 18% were very or extremely bothered by dry skin vs. 78% at baseline, based on patient reporting. Confident Investing Starts Here:

New Alzheimer's blood tests make diagnosis easier — but they're not right for everyone
New Alzheimer's blood tests make diagnosis easier — but they're not right for everyone

San Francisco Chronicle​

time12 hours ago

  • San Francisco Chronicle​

New Alzheimer's blood tests make diagnosis easier — but they're not right for everyone

The number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia in the U.S., is projected to rise significantly in the coming decades. The devastating disease has no cure, but the past several years have brought promising developments in new drug therapies and blood tests that help doctors treat and diagnose the disease. Here's what to know about the blood tests that diagnose Alzheimer's, one of which got full FDA approval in May. How they work Several commercially available blood tests have become available the past few years, most recently from biotech company Fujirebio Diagnostics, which got full approval from the FDA last month. Each test measures slightly different things, but overall they look for abnormal levels of certain proteins — amyloid and tau — in the blood. The accumulation of amyloid and tau proteins in the brain, often called plaques, are hallmark signs of Alzheimer's. If someone has tau plaques in the brain, for instance, some of that will leak out of the brain into the blood, resulting in a blood test result showing higher than normal levels of tau. In patients with symptoms of cognitive impairment, the tests predict an Alzheimer's diagnosis with about 90% accuracy. Why they're important The blood tests are a notable development because they are less expensive and less invasive than other types of testing that doctors have long used to diagnose patients with Alzheimer's. One is a PET scan, which involves injecting a patient with a radioactive tracer that binds to amyloid or tau in the brain so the presence of the proteins can be seen in a scan. It can cost several thousand dollars, compared to several hundred dollars for a blood test. The other is a spinal tap, which is painful or uncomfortable for many people. This method measures different forms of amyloid and tau in the spinal fluid. 'Up until these blood tests came out, a physician was stuck doing a PET scan or spinal tap, so not great options,' said Dr. Frank Longo, a professor of neurology at Stanford Medicine. 'The big breakthrough is finding something to measure in the blood that's about 90% accurate of what's going on in the brain, about as accurate as spinal fluid or a PET scan.' Doctors use the blood test as part of a broader medical evaluation that also includes a patient history, neurological exam and other testing. The blood test can help rule out Alzheimer's as the cause of a patient's cognitive impairment and potentially avoid unnecessary further testing. If someone's blood test comes back normal, for example, they may not have to undergo the PET scan or spinal tap, and their doctor can look into other potential causes of the cognitive impairment. 'That's the biggest practical thing it's doing now,' Longo said. It's important to distinguish Alzheimer's from other types of dementia because there are Alzheimer's treatments that have come out the last few years that help slow the progression of Alzheimer's. But patients must be in relatively early stages of the disease, with mild impairment or mild dementia, to be eligible. Some of the therapies have significant side effects, so patients would not want to start them unless they knew it was Alzheimer's, and not something else, causing the dementia. They're not for everyone The tests are approved only for people who already have symptoms of cognitive impairment and are of a certain age — 55 and over or 60 and over, depending on the test. They are not approved for healthy adults with normal cognition who want to diagnose or rule out Alzheimer's, or who are simply curious if they are at risk for developing Alzheimer's. They must be ordered by a doctor. They're becoming more common, but may not be covered by insurance Some of the blood tests have been available for a year or two, Longo said, but they were under an earlier and more limited type of FDA approval, not the full approval that the agency granted last month to the Fujirebio test. So they are poised to become more common. 'A year ago, most of my colleagues and I were not ordering these,' Longo said. 'I'd say less than 5% or 10% of the time we were ordering these. Now people are starting to order them in symptomatic patients. It's not rare now. They're starting to be recognized more.' Some primary care doctors are starting to order the tests as well, said Dr. Armen Moughamian, medical director of Sutter Health's Ray Dolby Brain Center at CPMC in San Francisco. The center treats patients with memory disorders. 'It's definitely a minority, but I've been seeing it done,' he said. As with many new medical tests, insurers may not cover them yet, but that usually evolves over time. Full FDA approval may help make the case for the tests to be covered, Longo said. 'There is some uncertainty and lack of clarity about whether insurance and Medicare pay,' Moughamian said. 'That creates some hesitancy for providers to order it.' They may one day be used to screen and diagnose healthy people earlier In people with Alzheimer's, amyloid plaques begin to form in the brain as many as 20 years before they show symptoms. Right now, newer therapies for Alzheimer's — like lecanemab and donanemab, which slow the progression of the disease — are approved only for people with symptoms. Those symptoms are mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia, the early stages of symptomatic Alzheimer's. This means people who have not yet developed symptoms, but who have amyloid plaques in the brain, cannot get these treatments. So if a blood test could be used in pre-symptomatic people, it could mean better screening and earlier diagnosis to larger groups of people. 'What we want to push for is earlier diagnosis because new therapies are available when we catch people in earlier stages,' Moughamian said. Moughamian is leading two clinical trials that examine whether drugs that remove amyloid in the brain, donanemab and another drug remternetug, can work in people who have amyloid plaques but have not yet developed symptoms. They are using an Alzheimer's blood test to see whether patients are eligible for the trial.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store