Sanofi is openly preparing for the revenue gap that could follow the 2031 expiry of the U.S. patent on Dupixent, with Chief Financial Officer François-Xavier Roger saying the company plans to pursue external growth through business development and M&A. The message from management is that pipeline rebuilding has become more urgent after a series of clinical setbacks and a leadership change earlier this year.
Roger said on a third-quarter earnings call that Sanofi has “an increased interest in late-stage and commercial medicines in our core disease areas, complemented with disciplined built-in acquisitions of early-stage projects.” He also told Fierce that the company could deploy “probably [a] larger amount than we thought potentially,” while cautioning that investors should not expect a major deal in the next two months.
Why The Pressure Is Rising
The timing matters because Dupixent remains Sanofi’s main growth engine. Third-quarter sales of the Regeneron-partnered product rose 34.8% year over year to 5.7 billion euros ($6.4 billion), giving Sanofi strong cash flow and balance-sheet capacity. But the same concentration increases the need to find assets that can contribute before patent pressure arrives.
Sanofi has already tried to reinforce its pipeline under CEO Belén Garijo, M.D., Ph.D., including a $1 billion upfront deal with Regeneron for four immunology programs. Only one of those assets was already in clinical development when the deal was announced, which helps explain why management is now speaking more directly about the need for nearer-term revenue contributors.
What Sanofi Says It Wants
Roger said the company remains focused on immunology, rare diseases and vaccines, but he also left room for expansion beyond those established areas. He said Sanofi could consider “white spaces or moonshots with unmet medical needs,” while adding that the near-term focus remains on leveraging existing strengths rather than making immediate big moves in those areas.
That combination suggests a two-track strategy. Sanofi appears to be prioritizing assets that can produce commercial impact on a shorter timetable, while preserving optionality for higher-risk categories that may matter over a longer horizon.
Roger also said there are “no plans for major restructuring.” He described the company’s current posture as less about cutting costs and more about improving returns on investment, even after Sanofi slimmed down its pipeline by removing programs including amlitelimab, balinatunfib and itepekimab.
