Sanofi sells its Maisons-Alfort site: “I have no words for it…”

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi announced on Tuesday, July 1, that it was selling its Maisons-Alfort site in Val-de-Marne to the German subcontractor Adragos Pharma, which has committed to "guaranteeing continued employment for three years" for the company's 452 employees.

Maisons-Alfort's activity is 80% dedicated to the production of Lovenox, an anticoagulant drug that prevents the formation of blood clots in the vessels. The factory produces 160 million syringes of this drug each year, which is also produced at the Csanyikvölgy site in Hungary. For several years, this product has been subject to international competition, particularly from Asia, a situation that "causes a continuous decline in the site's activity and its production volume," the group explains in its press release, which also specifies "having multiplied initiatives to reverse this trend, but the erosion of our volumes has continued."

In its press release, the CGT Sanofi union calls for "a reversal of this disastrous decision" for this historic site of the group and "the birthplace of Lovenox, Sanofi's flagship drug since the 1980s." "We will be the 25th site sold or closed by Sanofi since 2009, while this group makes billions in net profits every year, while receiving public money. We have no words for that," emphasizes Nassim Bekhtaoui, central CGT union representative. The union argues that "the transformation of the site, combined with staff training, represents a much less expensive alternative, much faster to implement, and above all, more socially beneficial."

Since the beginning of the year, Sanofi has partially sold the branch that markets Doliprane and announced the sale of the Amilly site in Loiret, which manufactures Aspégic and Kardegic , due to a "mismatch with Sanofi's portfolio of innovative products."

While the Senate commission of inquiry into public aid paid to companies has just announced the staggering figure of 211 billion euros allocated for 2023 , a report which arouses incomprehension and anger in the minds of employees of the French pharmaceutical giant.