Jobs at risk as Sanofi confirms closure of Kymab’s Cambridge facility

Sanofi acquired antibody gamechanger Kymab for $1.1 billion plus $350m in potential milestones in April 2021. It says it will try to save as many jobs as possible.

Kymab is a clinical-stage global biopharma company focused on the discovery and development of fully human monoclonal antibody drugs using its proprietary antibody platform.

Approached by Business Weekly with reports of Kymab’s impending fate, Sanofi was open, honest and swift to explain the rationale. A spokesperson said: “To remain an agile and science-led company, Sanofi is continuously reviewing its R & D modalities to drive value and innovation for patients and deliver first and best in class medicines and vaccines.

“Upon careful review of our R & D global footprint, we are proposing to end research operations in Cambridge, UK, which joined our company through acquisition in 2021.

“We emphasise our deep respect for the talent and science behind these technologies and their potential to improve outcomes for patients. Our employees at that location (around 90 people) have been informed.

“We will seek to employ as many of the impacted employees as possible within Sanofi. However, when we do implement changes, there are times that our people are affected. In these events, we will always try to provide multiple avenues of support through all transitions.”

Kymab won the Business Weekly BioMedTech Company of the Year Award at Queens’ College, Cambridge in 2012. The company was founded by serial entrepreneur Allan Bradley, former director at the Wellcome Sanger Institute locally, to develop a mouse-based human antibody discovery platform, the Kymouse, designed to have a superior repertoire of B-cell mediated immune responses to current in vivo systems.