Sanofi has announced an investment exceeding €1bn ($1.07bn) to expand biomanufacturing capacities at its sites in France.
The company will enhance capacity at its sites in Vitry-sur-Seine (Val de Marne), Le Trait (Seine-Maritime) and Lyon Gerland (Rhône).
The strategic move aims to bolster the country's capacity to produce essential medicines from inception to completion.
The latest investment will create 500 new jobs and is part of Sanofi's broader commitment of €3.5bn in France for medicine and vaccine production since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sanofi plans to invest €1bn in Vitry-sur-Seine to construct a new unit in a bid to double the monoclonal antibody production capacity at the site.
The expansion could cater to the manufacturing of several biologics currently in development, targeting diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), asthma, multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes (T1D).
These products have the potential to address the needs of millions of patients both in France and globally.
At Le Trait, Normandy, the company will make a €100m investment into developing additional capabilities for biologics formulation, filling, device assembly and packaging.
This will support future biologics and vaccine launches and accommodate the growth of Dupixent - on track to become the first biologic indicated for COPD.
Sanofi will also invest €10m in Lyon Gerland to establish the manufacturing of TZield, a treatment for T1D.
TZield was acquired by Sanofi in April 2023 and has previously been manufactured outside Europe.
Sanofi France president Audrey Derveloy stated: “Throughout its history, Sanofi has always sought to equip France with the strategic platforms needed to produce the essential medicines and vaccines of today and tomorrow.
“This is why we chose our Vitry site to double its monoclonal antibody production capacity, after having already invested heavily in Neuville-sur-Saône to produce our future vaccines, including with mRNA technology.
“We have also strengthened our API [active pharmaceutical ingredients] production sites in the south of France. Our contribution to health sovereignty in Europe, and France in particular, has always been and remains unique.”
Before this development, Sanofi entered a $1bn licensing agreement with Fulcrum Therapeutics.
The new partnership is set to develop and commercialise losmapimod, an investigational drug for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.
