Pull to refresh
Logo
Daily Brief
Following Why
Dupixent becomes one of the most versatile drugs in pharmaceutical history

Dupixent becomes one of the most versatile drugs in pharmaceutical history

New Capabilities
By Newzino Staff |

Sanofi and Regeneron's antibody drug earns ninth FDA approval in nine years, reshaping treatment across allergic and inflammatory diseases

4 days ago: Ninth FDA approval: allergic fungal rhinosinusitis

Overview

When the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Dupixent for severe eczema in 2017, it was one drug for one disease. Nine years later, the same molecule has been approved for nine separate conditions, from asthma to a chronic fungal sinus infection that previously had no approved treatment at all. The latest approval, granted on February 24, 2026, covers allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS), a condition that traps patients in a cycle of repeated sinus surgeries. In a pivotal trial, Dupixent reduced the need for additional surgeries and steroid courses by 92%.

In This Story

3 Videos
2 People
George D. Yancopoulos Leonard S. Schleifer
3 Orgs
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Sanofi U.S. Food and Drug Administration
10 Events
4 Key Stats
9
4 Scenarios
Dupixent reaches tenth indication and crosses $20 billion in annual sales before patent expiry
3 Context
Humira's indication expansion (2002-2023)

Key Indicators

9
FDA-approved indications
Number of distinct diseases Dupixent is now approved to treat, the most recent being allergic fungal rhinosinusitis
92%
Reduction in surgery or steroid use
How much Dupixent reduced the need for repeat sinus surgeries or systemic corticosteroid courses versus placebo in the AFRS trial
$17.8B
Global net sales in 2025
Dupixent's annual revenue, up 26% from the prior year, making it one of the highest-grossing drugs worldwide
1.4M+
Active patients worldwide
Number of patients currently being treated with Dupixent across all approved conditions

Interactive

Exploring all sides of a story is often best achieved with Play.

Ever wondered what historical figures would say about today's headlines?

Sign up to generate historical perspectives on this story.

Sign Up

Debate Arena

Two rounds, two personas, one winner. You set the crossfire.

People Involved

George D. Yancopoulos
George D. Yancopoulos
President and Chief Scientific Officer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (Leading Regeneron's scientific strategy and Dupixent expansion)
Leonard S. Schleifer
Leonard S. Schleifer
Co-founder, Chairman, and former CEO, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (Serves as executive chairman; co-architect of Regeneron's science-first model)

Organizations Involved

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Biopharmaceutical Company
Status: Co-developer and co-marketer of Dupixent; 74% of revenue dependent on key biologic drugs

The Tarrytown, New York-based biotech company that discovered dupilumab and co-develops it with Sanofi under a long-standing collaboration agreement.

Sanofi
Sanofi
Global Pharmaceutical Company
Status: Co-developer and international marketer of Dupixent; projects sales reaching approximately $24 billion by 2030

The Paris-based pharmaceutical giant that co-developed Dupixent with Regeneron and handles its international commercialization.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Federal Regulatory Agency
Status: Has approved Dupixent nine times across distinct indications

The federal agency responsible for evaluating and approving drugs in the United States; has granted Dupixent Priority Review designation for multiple indications including COPD and AFRS.

Timeline

  1. Ninth FDA approval: allergic fungal rhinosinusitis

    Regulatory

    The FDA approved Dupixent as the first and only medicine for allergic fungal rhinosinusitis in adults and children aged 6 and older with a history of sinus surgery. The approval was based on a trial showing a 92% reduction in the need for subsequent surgeries and corticosteroid courses.

  2. Phase 3 AFRS trial succeeds; FDA accepts Priority Review

    Clinical

    Sanofi and Regeneron announced that the LIBERTY-AFRS-AIMS Phase 3 trial met all primary and secondary endpoints, and that the FDA accepted a supplemental application for Priority Review with a target date of February 28, 2026.

  3. Eighth approval: bullous pemphigoid

    Regulatory

    The FDA approved Dupixent for bullous pemphigoid, a rare blistering skin disease, making it the only targeted biologic for the condition.

  4. Approved for chronic spontaneous urticaria

    Regulatory

    Dupixent was approved as the first new targeted therapy in over a decade for chronic spontaneous urticaria (chronic hives) in patients aged 12 and older whose symptoms remain uncontrolled by antihistamines.

  5. Landmark COPD approval opens largest new market

    Regulatory

    The FDA approved Dupixent as the first biologic medicine for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with an eosinophilic phenotype, a condition affecting millions of adults. Analysts called 2025 the 'inflection year' for this indication's revenue contribution.

  6. Approved for prurigo nodularis

    Regulatory

    Dupixent gained approval for prurigo nodularis, a chronic skin condition causing intensely itchy nodules, becoming the first FDA-approved treatment for the disease.

  7. Approved for eosinophilic esophagitis

    Regulatory

    The FDA approved Dupixent for eosinophilic esophagitis, a chronic inflammatory condition of the food pipe, making it the first and only treatment for the disease. This marked a significant expansion beyond skin and lung conditions.

  8. Third indication: chronic sinusitis with nasal polyps

    Regulatory

    Dupixent was approved for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps in adults, its first sinus-related indication and a sign of the drug's expanding relevance to upper-airway inflammatory disease.

  9. Second indication: asthma

    Regulatory

    The FDA approved Dupixent as an add-on maintenance treatment for moderate-to-severe eosinophilic asthma in patients aged 12 and older, establishing the drug's reach beyond skin diseases into the lungs.

  10. Dupixent wins first FDA approval for eczema

    Regulatory

    The FDA approved dupilumab as the first targeted biologic therapy for adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (eczema). It was the first drug to block interleukin-4 receptor alpha signaling.

Scenarios

1

Dupixent reaches tenth indication and crosses $20 billion in annual sales before patent expiry

Discussed by: Sanofi management forecasts, Wall Street pharmaceutical analysts, J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference commentary

Sanofi has projected Dupixent sales of roughly 22 billion euros by 2030, and additional indications remain in the clinical pipeline, including pediatric expansions and potential new disease targets. If the drug continues to win approvals at its current pace, it could become one of the highest-grossing biologic drugs in history before its core patents expire around 2031. This scenario depends on continued positive trial results and no major safety signals emerging across the expanding patient population.

2

Biosimilar competition arrives earlier than expected, eroding Dupixent's market position by 2029

Discussed by: Formycon AG (developing biosimilar candidate FYB208), patent analysts at DrugPatentWatch, Amgen (which has challenged Dupixent patents)

Multiple companies are developing dupilumab biosimilars, with filings potentially arriving around 2025-2026 and approvals possible by 2028-2030. Amgen has mounted patent challenges against Dupixent, and if courts narrow Sanofi and Regeneron's patent protections, biosimilar entry could come sooner than the 2031 patent cliff suggests. This would compress the revenue window for new indications and force price reductions of 30-50% once competition materializes.

3

A competing biologic proves superior in head-to-head trials, slowing Dupixent's expansion

Discussed by: Clinical Trials Arena, pharmaceutical competitive intelligence analysts

A head-to-head study comparing Dupixent to mepolizumab (which targets a different immune pathway) is expected to report results in 2026. If a competitor demonstrates superior efficacy in overlapping indications like asthma or COPD, it could challenge the narrative that Dupixent's broad mechanism makes it the default choice for type 2 inflammatory diseases. The risk is concentrated in indications where multiple biologics compete, rather than orphan conditions like AFRS where Dupixent faces no rival.

4

Type 2 inflammation paradigm proves even broader, yielding additional disease approvals

Discussed by: Regeneron scientific leadership, immunology researchers, Sanofi R&D pipeline presentations

The underlying scientific thesis, that interleukin-4 and interleukin-13 drive a common immune mechanism across many diseases, has been validated nine times. If this pattern holds, further conditions driven by type 2 inflammation could become candidates for Dupixent. Regeneron has described the drug's expansion trajectory as evidence that the IL-4/IL-13 axis is 'a major driver of type 2 inflammation across many chronic diseases,' suggesting the company sees additional indications as scientifically plausible.

Historical Context

Humira's indication expansion (2002-2023)

December 2002 - 2023

What Happened

AbbVie's Humira (adalimumab), a monoclonal antibody targeting tumor necrosis factor, was approved by the FDA in 2002 for rheumatoid arthritis. Over the next two decades, it accumulated approvals for a dozen additional conditions including Crohn's disease, psoriasis, and ulcerative colitis, eventually becoming the best-selling drug in pharmaceutical history with peak annual sales exceeding $21 billion.

Outcome

Short Term

Each new indication expanded Humira's patient base and revenue, turning a single arthritis drug into a franchise that dominated AbbVie's finances.

Long Term

When biosimilars finally arrived in 2023, they rapidly eroded Humira's market share and revenue, demonstrating both the enormous value of multi-indication biologics and the vulnerability that follows patent expiration.

Why It's Relevant Today

Dupixent is following a strikingly similar playbook: a single antibody molecule expanding across an ever-growing list of inflammatory conditions. The Humira precedent shows that this strategy can produce decades of market dominance, but also that the patent cliff, when it comes, can be abrupt and severe.

Gleevec's cancer revolution (2001-2016)

May 2001 - 2016

What Happened

Novartis's Gleevec (imatinib), originally approved for chronic myeloid leukemia, became a landmark in targeted therapy by expanding to treat multiple cancers driven by the same family of malfunctioning enzymes. It earned approvals across ten distinct cancer types or subtypes, transforming the idea that one molecular target could unlock treatments for many diseases.

Outcome

Short Term

Gleevec turned chronic myeloid leukemia from a death sentence into a manageable condition, and each new indication validated the targeted-therapy model.

Long Term

The drug's success inspired an entire generation of precision medicines designed to hit specific molecular drivers across multiple diseases, establishing the template that Dupixent now follows in inflammatory disease.

Why It's Relevant Today

Like Gleevec, Dupixent's expansion depends on a single insight: that many apparently different diseases share a common molecular driver. Gleevec proved this model in cancer; Dupixent is proving it in type 2 inflammation.

Rituximab's expansion from cancer to autoimmune disease (1997-2011)

November 1997 - 2011

What Happened

Genentech's Rituxan (rituximab), initially approved for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, was later approved for rheumatoid arthritis, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and two rare autoimmune conditions. The jump from oncology to autoimmune disease demonstrated that a single biologic could cross major disease category boundaries if the underlying biology supported it.

Outcome

Short Term

The rheumatoid arthritis approval in 2006 opened an entirely new commercial market for a drug originally conceived as a cancer treatment.

Long Term

Rituximab became one of the best-selling drugs in history and established the precedent that biologics could be 'repurposed' across fundamentally different disease categories based on shared immune mechanisms.

Why It's Relevant Today

Dupixent's expansion from eczema to COPD to a rare fungal sinus condition mirrors rituximab's leap across disease categories. Both cases demonstrate that when a drug targets the right molecular mechanism, the range of treatable conditions can far exceed initial expectations.

Sources

(12)
+6
GlobeNewsWire (Regeneron press release) American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC) BioSpace Regeneron Investor Relations Sanofi Media Room Fierce Pharma Drugs.com Clinical Trials Arena PMC / National Institutes of Health GlobeNewsWire (Sanofi press release) Regeneron Investor Relations Regeneron Investor Relations