Sanofi refocuses its French manufacturing capacity

Sanofi-Aventis has set aside a 150 million euro ($200m) war chest to fund a major expansion of its biologic manufacturing capabilities in France over the next four years.

The drugmaker said the aim of the project is to shift the focus of its manufacturing capacity from a focus on chemical synthesis to a greater emphasis on biotechnology and vaccine production.

A secondary aim is to reduce capacity across the group in anticipation of a decline in demand after patents on some of its big volume products expire.

"The change toward more biotechnologies corresponds with the evolution of the pharmaceutical world," said Philippe Luscan, the company’s senior vice president for industrial affairs, in a statement.

To that end, a facility in Romainville employing around 250 staff will be shut down by the end of 2013. The facility makes active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) using microbial fermentation techniques, including antibiotics and corticosteroids.

The greatest portion of the investment – some 90 million euros – will go towards the set-up of a new biosynthetic production process for corticosteroid compounds at the company’s manufacturing facilities in Saint-Aubin-Les-Elbeuf and Vertolaye.

Another tranche of the investment is earmarked for a recently-commissioned, 350 million-euro manufacturing plant operated by the company’s vaccine subsidiary, Sanofi Pasteur, in Neuville-sur-Saone.

The unit will produce 100 million doses of the novel vaccine against dengue fever, currently under development, and is expected to be online in 2013. It will employ around 200 staff when fully operational.

Sanofi-Aventis said that the programme would be staffing-neutral over the next four years, with a reduction in chemical production jobs offset by the creation of bioprocessing specialists. Biotechnology training programmes are planned for 700 employees, it added.

With the latest round of investment, Sanofi-Aventis has devoted 700 million euros towards the conversion of its chemical facilities over to biotechnology since 2008.

The company has steadily been boosting its position in biotech of late, as part of a major drive to reorganise its business around five growth platforms: biologic medicines, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, diabetes medicines and generic medicines for emerging markets.