Sanofi to pay Regeneron $1 billion upfront in expanded immunology deal

Oct 1 (Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi said on Thursday it would pay US partner Regeneron $1 billion upfront and up to $7 billion more in milestone payments to add four next-generation, long-acting immunology antibodies to the partnership behind their blockbuster eczema drug Dupixent.

The companies said they had settled earlier litigation over the collaboration and that they would split costs and profits of the expanded partnership equally.

• The four antibodies target the same type 2 inflammation pathways as Dupixent, which more than 1.5 million patients use across nine indications

• Regeneron will lead research and development and Sanofi will lead global sales

• The existing Dupixent profit-sharing terms will not change

• Regeneron also has the option to join Sanofi's experimental drug lunsekimig once its late-stage trials for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are finished

(Reporting by Hugo Lhomedet in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)