Sanofi plans to create a European company dedicated to the production and marketing to third parties of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), which are the essential molecules responsible for the beneficial effects used in the composition of any drug. The project consists of creating a standalone company which would combine Sanofi’s API commercial and development activities with six of its European API production sites: Brindisi (Italy), Frankfurt Chemistry (Germany), Haverhill (UK), St Aubin les Elbeuf (France), Újpest (Hungary) and Vertolaye (France).
The new company would rank as the world's second largest API company with approximately €1 billion in expected sales by 2022. It is expected to include 3,100 skilled employees and to be headquartered in France. A planned IPO on Euronext Paris would be evaluated with a decision expected by 2022, subject to market conditions.
“Based on the expertise and experience built over decades within our industrial network, this new entity would help ensure a greater stability in supplying drugs to millions of patients in Europe and beyond. With this endeavor, this new entity would be agile as a standalone company, and able to unlock its growth potential, especially in capturing new third-party sales and all the opportunities of a market growing at a pace of 6 % per year,” Philippe Luscan, Executive Vice President, Global Industrial Affairs at Sanofi, said.
By operating independently, the new entity plans to increase its sales to third parties and to expand its partnerships with other pharmaceutical companies in order to take advantage of new growth opportunities and have the ability to deftly adapt to customer needs.
Sanofi intends to establish a long-term customer relationship with the new API supplier and to hold a minority stake of approximately 30% in the new company. Sanofi intends the new company to be debt free in order to maximize its future investment capacities, and is committed to remaining an important customer.