Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
Adagene and Sanofi entered a collaboration and exclusive license agreement to generate masked monoclonal and bispecific antibodies using Adagene's SAFEbody conditional-activation technology. Sanofi paid $17.5M upfront and could advance two initial candidates with options for two more; Adagene is eligible for up to $2.5B in milestones plus tiered royalties. The alliance has since expanded: in July 2025 Sanofi exercised its option to select a third SAFEbody discovery program (a bispecific with undisclosed targets), triggering an option exercise fee, milestones and royalties per the 2022 agreement, and made a strategic equity investment of up to $25M in Adagene ($17.0M at first close plus $8.0M contingent on Full Phase 2 Enrollment), with Sanofi also supporting clinical development of Adagene's anti-CTLA-4 SAFEbody muzastotug (ADG126).