French drugmaker Sanofi confirmed on Monday that it will sell a controlling stake in its consumer health unit to a U.S. investment fund, renewing concerns that the deal could mean a loss of sovereignty over key pharmaceuticals. caused a political backlash.
Manuel Bompard, a senior lawmaker from the far-left French Indomitable Party (LFI), told broadcaster TF1 that Paris “must use its powers to protect strategic sectors to prevent the sale.”
Politicians and unions have scrapped a 16 billion euro ($17.4 billion) deal that Sanofi had proposed with U.S. investment fund CD&R to take control of the opera.
This subsidiary produces well-known medicines such as paracetamol under the Doliprane brand, whose yellow boxes dominate the French market.
Under pressure, Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s minority government announced it had secured a 2% stake in Opera from public investment bank BPIFrance, securing “very strong” guarantees against job cuts and offshoring.
Opella employs more than 11,000 people and operates in 100 countries.
Sanofi says it is the world’s third-largest company in the over-the-counter drugs, vitamins and supplements market.
CD&R’s series of investments in France will help build Opera into a “global consumer healthcare champion headquartered in France,” the pharmaceutical giant said in a statement.
“Just words”
But with memories of drug shortages during and after the coronavirus pandemic still fresh for many, critics say the defenses are too weak.
Mr. Bompard said that even a small stake in Opera, which is controlled by the LFI, which controls the Left Alliance, the main opposition to Mr. Barnier and President Emmanuel Macron, would “give the French state a say in strategic decisions.” It doesn’t matter,” he said.
Thomas Portes, also from LFI, wrote on X that the government had offered “no guarantees, just words”.
Economy Minister Antoine Armand said the deal between CD&R, Sanofi and the government includes investments of at least 70 million euros over five years, as well as the maintenance of production sites, research and development and the Opera’s official headquarters in France. He said that
Allemande added that this includes “maintaining minimum production volumes of Opéra’s sensitive products in France” such as Driplane, the digestive medicine Lanzol and Aspesique branded aspirin.
Fines would be imposed if French production sites were closed, employees were laid off, or if the company failed to purchase from French suppliers.
This includes the company sequence to re-establish production of Driplane’s active ingredient paracetamol in France.
“Workers are not at all reassured by the latest developments,” said Johann Nicolas, head of the CGT trade union at Opéra’s Driplane factory in Lisieux, northern France.
He added that the picketing had reduced production of medicine there from about 1.3 million boxes per day to about 265,000 boxes per day.
Even some in the government camp are not convinced by the safeguards proposed in the agreement.
Monday’s guarantees “do not represent any long-term commitments, either in terms of investment, supply or jobs,” Charles Rodwell, a lawmaker from Macron’s EPR party who has been closely monitoring the incident, told AFP. Ta.
He vowed that Parliament would monitor the government’s actions around the deal “closely”, including steps to “block” the sale if ministers cannot reach an agreement.
brand loyalty
President Macron said last week that his government “has the necessary means to protect France” from unwanted “capital ownership”.
Emotions about opera sales are closely related to driplanes.
Boxes of non-opioid pain medications for mild to moderate pain and fever often line an entire pharmacy wall.
The drug comes in a variety of doses, from 100 mg for infants to 1,000 mg for adults, and is sold in tablet, capsule, suppository, and liquid forms.
It is so widespread that the French refer to paracetamol products as Driplane, even if they are made by a different manufacturer.
Sanofi, one of the world’s top 12 healthcare companies, said the planned spin-off is part of its strategy to focus on innovative medicines and vaccines for polio, influenza and meningitis, rather than over-the-counter medicines.
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