Unilife/Sanofi wearables deal ‘unprecedented’, says Shortall

Unilife’s agreement with Sanofi to be the sole provider of cartridge based wearable injectors is ‘unprecedented’, according to Alan Shortall, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at the firm.

In a call to investors, the CEO said: “This supply agreement with Sanofi is unprecedented. It is arguably the largest and longest supply agreement ever done in our industry. We will supply our wearable injectors to Sanofi for use with all of their applicable pipeline drug needs, excluding insulins, for the next 15 years at a minimum.”

Unilife has granted Sanofi non-exclusive access to its wearable injector technology during the agreement. Unilife maintains the right to enter into supply agreements with other pharmaceutical companies for the use of its wearable injectors, so long as Sanofi's non-exclusive access is preserved. Sanofi also has the option to extend the agreement for additional periods. In addition to an upfront payment and device sales, Unilife anticipates it will receive approximately $50 million from customisation programs relating to Sanofi molecules and indications.

Additional revenue is also expected from customisation programs conducted under joint collaborations with Sanofi partners. Unilife will begin to generate revenue from Sanofi this fiscal year from an upfront payment, customisation programs and initial commercial sales of the devices to Sanofi. Unilife and Sanofi will also collaborate in the development of other new technologies that address additional unmet or emerging needs for the delivery of large dose volume biologics. Additional information will remain confidential at this time.  

At the announcement of the signing, Shortall said: "Unilife continues to advance our lead position in the fast-growing market for wearable injectors, a market which is expected to generate $8 billion in sales at an average $25 per unit by 2025. Based upon public information and industry forecasts, Unilife estimates that Sanofi has between 5 to 10 molecules that will be delivered in wearable injectors. With many pharmaceutical companies having up to a dozen large dose volume biologics that will each require an average of five million units per drug per year, our wearable injectors are poised to generate substantial revenue and growth moving forward. Additionally, we anticipate substantial incremental revenue will be generated from customszation programs conducted under joint collaborations with Sanofi partners that choose to participate.”