Sanofi pledges $1bn+ to expand production facilities in France

Sanofi will build a €1 billion ($1.1 billion) mAb production facility in Vitry-sur-Seine, while it invests €100 million to bolster capacity at its Le Trait site in Normandy and invests €10 million at Lyon Gerland.

Announced during the Choose France Summit held in Paris on Monday, the investment is expected to create 500 jobs and strengthen Sanofi’s Play to Win strategy announced last year. The strategy focuses on cutting-edge science, immunology, and diseases such as asthma, multiple sclerosis, T1D and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

“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,” said Audrey Derveloy, president of Sanofi France.

“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 production sites in the south of France.”

The Vitry-sur-Siene site, near Paris, will produce treatments for COPD, asthma, multiple sclerosis or T1D, creating 350 jobs.

The France-based firm anticipated 150 jobs at its Le Trait site, where the firm is building up its filling, device assembly and packaging capacity. The site will support biologics and vaccines production and manufacture inflammatory disease and COPD treatment Dupixent.

The investment in Lyon will support the production of type 1 diabetes drug TZield (teplizumab), added through Sanofi's acquisition of Provention Bio in April 2023.

France has always been at the “heart of Sanofi’s strategy,” said CEO Paul Hudson.

“With these unprecedented industrial investments, we remain true to our history by once again choosing France to produce these future medicines and make them available to patients around the world.”

Aligning with its Play to Win strategy, the firm is looking to invest an additional €700 million per year in R&D over the next two years across its French network.

The Choose France Summit is France’s flagship forum to increase funding and strengthen economic cohesion. Established in 2018, 180 international business executives participated in the summit this year.

The event was also attended by AstraZeneca, AbbVie, Pfizer, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). AstraZeneca announced a €365 million investment to enhance its facilities at its manufacturing site in Dunkirk, France, while Pfizer pledged €500 million to bolster R&D capabilities in France over the next five years.