Choose Germany. Sanofi will invest €1.3 billion to modernize its insulin production plant in Frankfurt, where the French company already makes the Lantus brand, the company said on August 1. The pharmaceutical company will build a 36,000-square-meter facility (the size of five football fields) to replace Sanofi’s current insulin production plant (already the group’s largest in the world for this specialty) in Frankfurt’s Höchst district by 2029.
A vital piece of equipment to strengthen security of supply on a European scale, according to the French laboratory. The BioCampus currently supplies patients in around 80 countries with 20 different insulin products. Several hundred additional specialists will be recruited in the coming years, Sanofi announced. More than 4,000 people currently work in the insulin value chain, according to the company.
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The German press reported last month, citing German government sources, that Sanofi preferred to opt for the modernization of its Frankfurt plant, while it had initially considered transferring the production of its Lantus brand to France. German public support, through subsidies from the federal government, the state of Hesse and the city of Frankfurt, seems to have been decisive. The public aid will have to be validated by the European Commission under the EU state aid procedure.
Success for the German government
The investment represents another victory for Olaf Scholz’s coalition government, which is seeking to attract foreign investment, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector. It also follows other successes for the German government in this area: Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo announced in February an investment of around €1 billion to strengthen its work on precision cancer drugs near Munich, and the American Eli Lilly pledged in November to invest €2.3 billion in the production of obesity and diabetes drugs in the country.
With Reuters (Friederike Heine, French version Diana Mandiá)
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
