PARIS, Feb 5 (APM) - Sanofi has made “no commitment” to maintain its significant presence in France, president and CEO Serge Weinberg said at a press conference on Thursday.
“We have a strong presence in France. We are duty bound to work to adapt our structures, wherever they may be, without either any priority or protected areas. It is our responsibility to make the group grow at the same pace, depending on our priorities,” he said. The company held the meeting to present its 2014 financial results. (APMMA 41354)
Questioned by APM, he said the French group is not planning any redundancy plan “whether for drug reps or others”.
“However, I have not made a commitment, in particular to the unions, to a stable workforce in France because we have to allow for future expansion capacity. Saying this does not mean there are plans,” he emphasised.
Sanofi - which employs 27,500 collaborators in France (out of 110,000 in all) on 49 sites but only makes 8% of its turnover there - has in the past implemented several restructuring plans in the country, that led to job cuts in R&D and vaccines.
“Our personnel numbers in France fell significantly in the previous financial years,” Weinberg said.
Weinberg has been interim CEO since Chris Viehbacher was sacked at the end of October 2014 owing to his lack of communication and solitary management style.
Rumours of plans to sell off Sanofi’s mature products, accompanied by the sale of several plants in France, also appear to have contributed to his departure. Viehbacher, and since then Weinberg, have assured that the project, called Phoenix, was merely a reflection process and denied any plan to sell (APMMA 40245).
Nevertheless, in September Sanofi announced plans to sell its production site at Quetigny (Côte-d’Or) to the subcontractor Delpharm, and December said it had entered into negotiations with the Germany’s Evotec with a view to selling most of its Toulouse R&D site (APMMA 40664).
“The Phoenix project does not exist. It was never submitted to the board. If it ever did exist, it no longer does,” Weinberg said on Thursday. According to him, the project is “devoid of both economic viability and sense” since it concerns products that are “extremely profitable,” whose sales have undergone “slight but controllable” erosion.
Weinberg went on to say that the strategy chosen by the group was a “considerable force” in view of the “uncertainties” of the pharma market, and particularly payer pressure on prices ond competition in the U.S.
“The growth engine for the group will be innovation. That is what we shall continue to emphasise,” Weinberg said. “There have been efforts, there are perspectives but the objective is to continue to fill our pipeline at all stages,” he added.
The Sanofi share price rose 1.7% to 83.01 euros at midday on the Paris stock exchange.
Whereas Sanofi’s flagship product Lantus (insulin glargine) will have to face the forthcoming arrival of a biosimilar, Sanofi intends to launch up to 18 new drugs between now and 2020, with a potential cumulated turnover of more than 30 billion euros over the first five years of sales (APMMA 40508).
On Tuesday it launched inhaled insulin Afrezza in the U.S., acquired in August 2014 from Mannkind for an amount of up to $925 million (APMMA 41317). Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) for multiple sclerosis (MS) will also see growth in the U.S. this year following its November approval.
Regulatory decisions are expected in the U.S. and Europe for the successor to Lantus, Toujeo (U300), for the lipid-lowering anti-PCSK9 product Praluent (alirocumab, with Regeneron), and, only in the U.S., for the paediatric hexavalent vaccine PR5i (whooping cough+diphtheria+tetanus+polio+invasive infections caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b+hepatitis B).
In the case of Praluent, Weinberg said Sanofi could be the first to launch in this new drug class, where Amgen and Pfizer also have products - evolocumab and bococizumab, respectively.
Filings are due to be submitted in the first half of the year “in priority countries” for the vaccine to protect against dengue Dengvaxia, with approvals expected at year end.
Similarly, 2015 should see the U.S. filing for lixisenatide (European approval Feb 2013 under the brand name Lixumia) and its combination with Lantus (Europe and the U.S., LixiLan), and for the anti-IL-6 sarilumab in rheumatoid arthritis (U.S.).
Early February, the pipeline held 43 drug candidates and vaccines in clinical development, of which 14 in Phase III or the subject of AMM requests.
Weinberg stressed that Sanofi continues to study possible strategic collaborations, licence agreements or opportunities for growth.
“The fact is that the asset market in the pharmaceutical sector is relatively restricted and very expensive. One of the key points is the financial discipline we impose, all the more evident for the fact we currently have both the ability to develop organically and that in each of our sectors we hold leading positions,” financial director Jérôme Contamine said.
“We are vigilant: we size up opportunities and examine the files. Clearly, we do not alter our financial discipline. If something crops up, we have the means to finance it,” he said.
The CEO made it known on Thursday that the appointment of a successor to Viehbacher to be recruited outside the group, would be announced before the end of the first quarter (APMMA 41354).
gb/aki/hlc
TRY APM Market Access AND GET ACCESS TO THE FULL CONTENT
Interviews with KOLs/senior executives amongst the Regulators, Payers, Health, Medical & Pharmaceutical organisations
Events coverage with a unique focus on Market Access & sustainability of healthcare systems
6 European bureaus : Berlin, Brussels, London, Madrid, Milan & Paris
Ask for a Free trial and get access to the latest stories
Our coverage includes:
- Health Care
- Market Access
- HTA – policies & practices
- European medicine regulations
- Drug safety issues
- Pricing & Reimbursement
- International medicines agencies
If you are a Payer, Pharmaceutical or Consulting professional our premium data will keep you informed on the regulatory, pricing, market access and cost-effectiveness issues that impact all stakeholders.
REQUEST
an initial 10 day temporary access of APM Market Access.
