Sanofi to buy partner Translate Bio for $3.2 billion in mRNA push

Sanofi has lagged behind upstarts BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. in the pandemic as they raced ahead with mRNA shots that have now been injected into arms more than a billion times

Sanofi will buy its messenger-RNA development partner Translate Bio Inc. for $3.2 billion as the French drugmaker plays catch-up in deploying the technology behind some of the world’s top-selling Covid-19 vaccines.

Sanofi agreed to pay $38 in cash for each of Translate Bio’s shares. While the price is 30% above Monday’s closing price, the company is getting a potential bargain “in a very hot therapeutic area,” said Wimal Kapadia, an analyst at Bernstein.

Ordinarily a giant in the vaccines space, Sanofi has lagged behind upstarts BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. in the pandemic as they raced ahead with mRNA shots that have