The deal could nevertheless give Incyte a competitive edge, especially with combination potential between its JAK inhibitors and Syndax’s axatilimab.

Analysts who felt Sanofi paid way over the odds when splashing out $3.7bn to buy Principia last year will be feeling justified in that stance after one of the oral BTK inhibitors acquired, rilzabrutinib, proved to be no more effective than placebo in a Phase III trial.

A review of drugs and supplemental uses since the project’s inception shows roughly one-third of the products reviewed have been NMEs.

Sanofi’s $1.9bn cash purchase of Kadmon surprised many analysts, coming as a bolt-on for the French pharma’s general medicines transplant portfolio rather than its specialty care pipeline, but the overall view was that it made sense.