EuroBiotech Report: Sanofi-Zealand, Gilead-Galapagos, IPO, NHL and BioLineRx

Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly EuroBiotech Report. We start this week with two stories about the value of a few months head start in clinical development. Sanofi ($SNY) put a number on its perception of the value of saving four months when it paid $245 million (€218 million) for a FDA priority review voucher. Playing that card allowed Sanofi and its partner Zealand Pharma (CPH:ZEAL) to leapfrog Novo Nordisk ($NVO) in a fiercely fought diabetes race. But this week FDA scuttled the plan when it asked Sanofi to provide more information, pushing its approval decision back by three months. Our other European biotech with an eye on the clock is Galapagos ($GLPG), which revealed its partner Gilead ($GILD) has started the Phase III program for rheumatoid arthritis drug filgotinib. AbbVie ($ABBV), which jilted Galapagos to develop a rival drug last year, entered Phase III in January. Cell therapy biotech Promethera Biosciences revealed it plans to IPO in April or May of next year. Nordic Nanovector (OSE:NANO) completed enrollment in the pre-dosed arms of its non-Hodgkin lymphoma trial. BioLineRx ($BLRX) set up a drug development joint venture in China. And more. Nick Taylor