Sanofi: The world's second largest API company will be created to balance Europe's heavy dependence on Asian APIs!

发布时间： 2020-02-26 阅读：846次

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February 24, 2020/ The French drugmaker said it’s creating the world’s second largest active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) manufacturer by spinning out its six current sites into a standalone company: Brindisi (Italy), Frankfurt Chemistry (Germany), Haverhill (UK), St Aubin les Elbeuf (France), újpest (Hungary) and Vertolaye (France). They have mapped out ? billion in expected sales by 2022 and 3,100 employees for the new operations headquartered in France.

The announcement came shortly after Axios reported that 150 prescription drugs are now at risk of shortage in the US, spanning antibiotics, generics and some branded drugs without alternatives.

Although factories in China are gradually reopening, restrictions in travel and disruptions at transit hubs are still slowing down production. An Indian company that relies on active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) from China told Bloomberg last week that it’s seeing prices of commonly used drugs jump by 40% to 70%.

China accounts for 13% of all manufacturing sites of API for the US market, following the US (28%), EU (26%) and India (18%), according to agency data. But the share by volume of ingredients from China that end up reaching American patients could be higher, STAT previously reported.

The drug supply chain has become “longer, more complex and fragmented as companies have located more production overseas” and used contract manufacturers more frequently, the FDA’s drug shortages task force wrote in a report updated a few days ago.

“Although typical markets would respond to a shortage by increasing production, logistical and regulatory challenges, especially the complexity of the supply chain, can limit the ability of drug manufacturers to increase production,” the report read.