Earthquake in the world of medicine. This Friday, Sanofi, flagship of the French pharmaceutical industry, announced that it was separating from the division which notably produces Doliprane, a sixty-year-old brand popular with the French. The stated goal is to better focus on the search for promising new cures. The entity, called “General Public” must become autonomous and be listed on the stock market at the end of 2024, the company said, without specifying whether it remained a majority shareholder.
By separating from “General Public”, Sanofi is following in the footsteps of its competitors and giving priority to the discovery of new targeted remedies. Sold very expensive because they suffer from no competition and offer significant therapeutic hopes, these so-called “innovative” drugs currently offer the highest rates of profitability on the market, but are accused of monopolizing the interest of laboratories, while certain remedies common, with low margins are sometimes impossible to find.
Beyond these strategic considerations – Sanofi lost 19% of its value following the announcement, a sign of investors’ doubts, because the firm missed the turn towards RNA and biotechnologies – the announcement threw the confusion over the future of Doliprane in France, while the government has promised to relocate the sector before the end of 2023 to address the shortages observed since the health crisis: more and more so-called “mature” drugs, like paracetamol but also antibiotics, cortisone is missing.
Contrary to what some of the press believed, the French giant’s announcement does not mean, as it stands, that production of Doliprane will be stopped. Still, some see this as a blow to efforts to restore French pharmaceutical sovereignty, especially since the firm will cede its logistics forces to the German firm DHL. “What is the point of the State helping Sanofi to invest if it is so that Doliprane ends up in the hands of vulture funds, guided only by profitability,” laments Jean-Louis Peyren, CGT-Sanofi delegate.
No affront to relocation, for the government
Asked by The Express, Sanofi refutes any “impact on production, employment, supply or investment in the territory”. According to the company, the reorganization only aims to clarify the group’s different activities to encourage investment. Last week, the group injected 20 million euros into its production center located in Lisieux, in Calvados. Enough to increase deliveries by 30% in the coming years, in accordance with government requests.
It remains that in the absence of precision on the exact nature of the sale of General public, it is difficult not to doubt: “If the products of General public, Doliprane, but Muscosolvan, Lysopaïne, Maalox are not enough profitable for Sanofi, there is a strong risk that they will not be profitable enough for the financial market. And we do not know if the new investors will be as attentive as Sanofi, which is a historic partner of the State in terms of public health. It’s surprising that Bercy accepted,” adds the economist.
Stating that it is in “clear and direct” contact with the chairman of the board of directors of Sanofi, particularly since the announcements, the office of Roland Lescure, Minister of Industry, indicates to The Express not to see Sanofi’s decision as an affront to French objectives: “Sanofi’s commitments on paracetamol are in no way called into question.” And to specify: “In the event of a proposed sale of Opella, if the buyer is foreign, the project will be subject to foreign investment control.”
Endorsed by 49.3 this Monday in the National Assembly, the social security finance bill plans in particular to strengthen the obligations of businesses. Enough to ensure that they find a buyer in the event of marketing cessation. If none comes forward, “it will be possible to temporarily grant marketing authorization to a public pharmaceutical establishment to continue operation”, adds Roland Lescure’s entourage.
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