Kadmon Holdings, Inc. (KDMN)

Kadmon Holdings was a New York-based biopharmaceutical company focused on autoimmune, fibrotic and immune-mediated diseases, along with some oncology programs. It was founded in 2010 by a team led by Harlan Waksal and grew through the combination of several smaller businesses. Its pipeline centered on inhibitors of the ROCK2 enzyme, which plays a role in inflammation and fibrosis.

Kadmon went public in July 2016. The early years as a public company were difficult, with a falling share price and spending that exceeded revenue from a small specialty pharmacy and generics business. The company narrowed its focus to its ROCK2 program and its lead drug candidate, belumosudil.

In July 2021 the FDA approved belumosudil, sold as Rezurock, for patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease after at least two prior lines of systemic therapy. Chronic GVHD is a serious complication of stem cell transplants, and the approval gave Kadmon its first major commercial product.

Weeks later, in September 2021, Sanofi agreed to buy Kadmon for $9.50 per share in cash, an equity value of about $1.9 billion on a fully diluted basis, to add Rezurock to its transplant portfolio. The tender offer and merger closed on November 9, 2021, and Kadmon's shares were delisted. Rezurock is now marketed by Sanofi.