Rumors of a possible acquisition by Sanofi have led to significant movement in the stock price of Ocular Therapeutix. The Massachusetts-based biotechnology company saw its shares rise sharply early Thursday after French publication La Lettre reported that Sanofi had made an initial $16-per-share offer, which Ocular rejected in September. According to the report, Sanofi is now preparing a revised proposal.
Following the news, Ocular’s stock increased by as much as 21% during premarket trading on Thursday, as noted by SeekingAlpha. However, the stock closed at $11.28, representing a decrease of about 10% from its opening price of $12.50. After markets closed, shares edged up slightly to $11.36.
Sanofi responded to BioSpace’s request for comment with an emailed statement: “Sanofi does not comment on market rumors or speculation.” BioSpace has also contacted Ocular for comment.
Ocular Therapeutix currently has a market capitalization near $2.4 billion. The company’s value is largely based on its lead product candidate Axpaxli, an investigational hydrogel formulation containing axitinib—a tyrosine kinase inhibitor—being evaluated for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy.
Axpaxli is undergoing Phase III testing in the SOL-1 study for wet AMD. Last month, Ocular stated that results are expected in the first quarter of this year and that it plans to submit a new drug application soon after.
If acquired by Sanofi, Ocular would strengthen Sanofi’s eye disease portfolio with a product that could compete with Regeneron and Bayer’s Eylea and Roche’s Vabysmo. Both drugs generated over $1 billion each in the third quarter of 2025. The annual market opportunity for wet AMD is estimated between $14 billion and $15 billion, according to Graig Suvannavejh, managing director of equity research at Mizuho Securities.
Should the deal proceed, it would likely be considered mid-sized compared to other recent industry transactions and would continue trends observed at this week’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference. For example, Johnson & Johnson acquired Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6 billion at last year’s conference start; no deals of similar size have been announced so far this year.
