Pharma BD Deal Intelligence

Sanofi-Aventis / Acambis plc

2008 · Acquisition/Merger · $548M · Complete

WRONG BY 64 POINTS

Sanofi paid ~$550M for Acambis in 2008, then sold the crown-jewel ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine business to Emergent BioSolutions in 2017 for up to $125M — a fraction of the original price, with a 2010 SEC filing calling the CDC stockpile contract "not significant" to Sanofi's financials.

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The coverage arc

Jul 29, 2008 FiercePharma Bullish

Sanofi's $548M takeover of Acambis at a 64% premium was framed as a logical extension of an existing partnership, anchored by the $425M 10-year US smallpox…

Aug 04, 2008 C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News) Bullish

C&EN framed Sanofi's Acambis purchase as evidence of the growing strategic value of the vaccines market for big pharma facing patent cliffs.

Source summaries from our enrichment pipeline; follow links for originals.

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GBP 276M; ACAM2000 smallpox; Japanese encephalitis, West Nile, Dengue programs; closed Sep 25 2008

Did it work? Outcome assessment

Sanofi paid ~$550M for Acambis in 2008, then sold the crown-jewel ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine business to Emergent BioSolutions in 2017 for up to $125M — a fraction of the original price, with a 2010 SEC filing calling the CDC stockpile contract "not significant" to Sanofi's financials.

Strategic verdict
Failed to Achieve

Key facts

Related deals — scored

DealYearValueOutcome
Sanofi-Aventis / Acambis plc (this deal)2008$548M36
Sanofi-Aventis / Symbion Consumer (Primary Health Care)2008$544M71
Sanofi-Aventis / Merial Limited (Merck's 50% interest)2009$4.0B65
Sanofi-Aventis / Shantha Biotechnics Limited2009$784M34
Sanofi-Aventis / Fovea Pharmaceuticals SA2009$541M23
Sanofi-Aventis / BiPar Sciences, Inc.2009$500M8
Sanofi-Aventis / ImmunoGen Inc.2005$18M

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