Voucher leapfrog

Sanofi (Euronext:SAN; NYSE:SNY) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) are hoping to use a newly acquired Priority Review voucher to jump ahead of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the race to be first to market with a PCSK9 program.

Last Wednesday, rare disease company BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN) sold a Priority Review voucher to Regeneron and Sanofi for $67.5 million, which the partners said they would use to obtain Priority Review for a BLA for alirocumab, a human mAb targeting proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9, to treat primary hypercholesterolemia. According to Sanofi spokesperson Elizabeth Baxter, it is the first ever purchase of a Priority Review voucher...