Paris, February 4, 2022. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Enjaymo™ (sutimlimab-jome) to decrease the need for red blood cell transfusion due to hemolysis in adults with cold agglutinin disease (CAD). Enjaymo is the first and only approved treatment for people with CAD and works by inhibiting the destruction of red blood cells (hemolysis).

Bill Sibold
Executive Vice President, Head of Specialty Care
“Until now, people living with cold agglutinin disease haven’t had an approved treatment option to manage the constant destruction of red blood cells. Without healthy, viable red blood cells, a chain reaction of debilitating signs and symptoms can be triggered, starting with severe anemia. Enjaymo is the only approved treatment to inhibit red blood cell destruction in CAD and help stop the chain reaction from the start.”

CAD, a rare autoimmune hemolytic anemia, is caused by antibodies called cold agglutinins binding to the surface of red blood cells, which starts a process that causes the body’s immune system to mistakenly attack healthy red blood cells and cause their rupture (hemolysis). As red blood cells have the vital job of carrying oxygen throughout the body, patients with CAD may experience severe anemia, which can result in fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, light-headedness, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, and other potential complications. CAD is a chronic and rare blood disorder that impacts the lives of an estimated 5,000 people in the U.S.

Enjaymo, targeting C1s in the classical complement pathway

Enjaymo is a humanized monoclonal antibody that is designed to selectively target and inhibit C1s in the classical complement pathway, which is part of the innate immune system. By blocking C1s, Enjaymo inhibits the activation of the complement cascade in the immune system and inhibits C1-activated hemolysis in CAD to prevent the abnormal destruction of healthy red blood cells. Enjaymo does not inhibit the lectin and alternative pathways.

Enjaymo Phase 3 pivotal CARDINAL study results supporting approval

The approval of Enjaymo in the U.S. is based on positive results from the 26-week open label, single arm pivotal Phase 3 study in patients with CAD (n=24) who have a recent history of blood transfusion, also known as the CARDINAL study.

Catherine Broome, MD
Associate professor of medicine at Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, and a principal investigator in the CARDINAL study
"For people living with cold agglutinin disease, it is as if their body’s immune system is waging a war on itself. The relentless destruction of healthy red blood cells is a daily, silent reality for people with CAD. For the first time, we have a treatment that targets complement-mediated hemolysis, which is the underlying cause of the red blood cell destruction in many CAD patients. In the pivotal study, patients treated with sutimlimab had an improvement in anemia as measured by hemoglobin and bilirubin levels during the 26-week study.”

In the study, Enjaymo met its primary efficacy endpoint, which was a composite endpoint defined as the proportion of patients who achieved normalization of hemoglobin (Hgb) level ≥12 g/dL or demonstrated an increase from baseline in Hgb level ≥2 g/dL at the treatment assessment time point (mean value from weeks 23, 25, and 26) and no blood transfusion from weeks 5 through 26 or medications prohibited per the protocol from weeks 5 through 26. Secondary endpoints were also met, including improvements in hemoglobin and normalization of bilirubin.

• The majority of patients (54%; n=13) met the composite primary endpoint criteria with 63% (n=15) of patients achieving a hemoglobin ≥ 12 g/dL or an increase of at least 2 g/dL; 71% (n=17) of patients remaining transfusion-free after week five; and 92% (n=22) of patients did not use other CAD-related treatments.
• For the secondary measures on disease process, patients enrolled experienced a mean increase in hemoglobin level of 2.29 g/dL (SE: 0.308) at week 3 and 3.18 g/dL (SE: 0.476) at the 26-week treatment assessment timepoint from the mean baseline level of 8.6 g/dL. The mean reduction in bilirubin levels (n=14) was by -2.23 mg/dL (95% CI: -2.49 to -1.98) from a mean baseline level of 3.23 mg/dL (2.7-fold ULN).

In the CARDINAL study, the most common adverse reactions occurring in 10 percent or more of patients were respiratory tract infection, viral infection, diarrhea, dyspepsia, cough, arthralgia, arthritis, and peripheral edema. Serious adverse reactions were reported in 13 percent (3/24) of patients who received Enjaymo. These serious adverse reactions were streptococcal sepsis and staphylococcal wound infection (n=1), arthralgia (n=1), and respiratory tract infection (n=1). None of the adverse reactions led to discontinuation of Enjaymo in the study. Dosage interruptions due to an adverse reaction occurred in 17 percent (4/24) of patients who received Enjaymo.

Following the completion of the 26-week treatment period of CARDINAL (Part A), eligible patients continued to receive Enjaymo in an extension study.

The recommended dose of Enjaymo is based on body weight (6,500 mg for people 39-75 kg and 7,500 mg for people >75 kg). Enjaymo is administered intravenously weekly for the first two weeks with administration every two weeks thereafter.

Enjaymo is expected to be available in the U.S. in the coming weeks. The U.S. list price, or wholesale acquisition cost, of Enjaymo is $1,800 per vial. Actual costs to patients are generally anticipated to be lower as the list price does not reflect insurance coverage, co-pay support, or financial assistance from patient support programs. As part of our commitment to ensure treatment access and affordability for innovative therapies, Enjaymo Patient Solutions provides disease education, financial and co-pay assistance programs and other support services to eligible patients. For more information, please call 1-833-223-2428.

Enjaymo received FDA Breakthrough Therapy and Orphan Drug designation, and priority review, which is reserved for medicines that, if approved, would represent significant improvements in safety or efficacy in treating serious conditions. Outside of the U.S., sutimlimab has been submitted to regulatory authorities in Europe and Japan and reviews are ongoing.

About Sanofi
We are an innovative global healthcare company, driven by one purpose: we chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives. Our team, across some 100 countries, is dedicated to transforming the practice of medicine by working to turn the impossible into the possible. We provide potentially life-changing treatment options and life-saving vaccine protection to millions of people globally, while putting sustainability and social responsibility at the center of our ambitions.
Sanofi is listed on EURONEXT: SAN and NASDAQ: SNY

Media Relations
Sally Bain | + 1 617 834 6026 | sally.bain@sanofi.com

Investor Relations
Eva Schaefer-Jansen | + 33 7 86 80 56 39 | eva.schaefer-jansen@sanofi.com

Arnaud Delépine | + 33 06 73 69 36 93 | arnaud.delepine@sanofi.com

Corentine Driancourt | + 33 06 40 56 92 | corentine.driancourt@sanofi.com

Felix Lauscher | + 1 908 612 7239 | felix.lauscher@sanofi.com

Priya Nanduri | +1 908 981 5560 | priya.nanduri@sanofi.com  

Nathalie Pham | + 33 07 85 93 30 17 | nathalie.pham@sanofi.com

Disclaimers or Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include projections and estimates regarding the marketing and other potential of the product, or regarding potential future revenues from the product. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words “expects”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “plans” and similar expressions. Although Sanofi’s management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Sanofi, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include among other things, unexpected regulatory actions or delays, or government regulation generally, that could affect the availability or commercial potential of the product, the fact that product may not be commercially successful, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including future clinical data and analysis of existing clinical data relating to the product, including post marketing, unexpected safety, quality or manufacturing issues, competition in general, risks associated with intellectual property and any related future litigation and the ultimate outcome of such litigation, and volatile economic and market conditions, and the impact that COVID-19 will have on us, our customers, suppliers, vendors, and other business partners, and the financial condition of any one of them, as well as on our employees and on the global economy as a whole.  Any material effect of COVID-19 on any of the foregoing could also adversely impact us. This situation is changing rapidly and additional impacts may arise of which we are not currently aware and may exacerbate other previously identified risks. The risks and uncertainties also include the uncertainties discussed or identified in the public filings with the SEC and the AMF made by Sanofi, including those listed under “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in Sanofi’s annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2020. Other than as required by applicable law, Sanofi does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements.