Sanofi and Warp Drive Bio announce new cancer research alliance

Sanofi has announced a new cancer research collaboration with Warp Drive Bio, a company that in which it has invested since its foundation in 2012.

The companies are extending and reshaping their existing partnership utilising Warp Drive's proprietary SMART (Small Molecule Assisted Receptor Targeting) and Genome Mining platforms to discover novel oncology therapeutics and antibiotics.

Their work will focus on the development of drugs targeting important human oncogenes, including RAS – which has one of the highest mutation rates in cancer – and new antibiotics targeting Gram-negative bacteria.

It builds on Sanofi's Sunrise initiative, a strategic partnership model that seeks to invest in early-stage opportunities that align with its expert development and commercialisation abilities.

Dr Elias Zerhouni, president of global research and development at Sanofi, said: "This is an exciting collaboration for Sanofi as it could yield potentially lifesaving oncology and antibiotic therapies for patients by utilising cutting-edge technology platforms."

This comes after the firm also recently announced a new partnership with Innate Pharma to develop an immuno-oncology treatment approach.