Sanofi could follow the lead of pharmaceutical companies anticipating potential tariffs on drugs by investing in the United States to boost their production. The French group has indicated that it is considering "potentially additional investments" across the Atlantic.
Speaking about its quarterly results, and without giving too much away, the pharmaceutical giant's chief financial officer, François Roger, said on Thursday that Sanofi was evaluating its production capacity needs in the United States, where it is considering "potentially additional investments."
"Even before the whole tariff discussion," the group had planned to manufacture more in the United States, he stressed, saying he was "closely monitoring the development" of the situation related to the American protectionist offensive.
"We have considered all scenarios to date and will communicate any developments, if necessary, in due course," he said.
The group generates approximately half of its turnover in the United States (its largest market), where only 25% of its production is located, spread across five factories.
For thirty years, pharmaceutical products have been exempt from customs duties, but in the face of the American threat hanging over the sector, several large pharmaceutical laboratories, notably American and Swiss, have announced massive investments in the United States to strengthen their production capacity.
Investing more does not necessarily mean opening new sites but can involve strengthening the production capacity of existing factories or increasing the use of local subcontractors.
"Urgent action" from Europe
At the same time, Mr. Roger echoed the demands recently made by major pharmaceutical manufacturers to the European Union.
"Europe talks a lot about health sovereignty, but actions do not always match ambitions," he lamented, criticizing "strict price controls," "growth caps for patented medicines," and "unlimited unpredictability."
"While the United States is attracting more than $100 billion in new biopharma investments, Europe is clearly lagging behind due to a lack of favorable market conditions," he said.
The day before, the head of Sanofi, British Paul Hudson, and that of Novartis, Vas Narasimhan, had called on Europe to "properly value innovation" in a letter published in the Financial Times, believing that "uncertainty linked to customs duties further reduces incentives to invest in the EU."
They had already co-signed a warning letter to Brussels on April 11, alongside 30 other executives from major companies including Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Roche, Merck, GSK and Servier.
Against the backdrop of the trade war, they warn of an erosion of pharmaceutical investment in the EU in favor of the United States, a key market for the health sector both as a customer and for innovation.
"In a relatively volatile world," the CFO said he does not expect "any specific event that could impact the global economy and could impact Sanofi," whose business "is not really highly dependent" on the economic situation.
“Solid start to the year”
The group thus says it is confident about its objectives for 2025 after a first quarter marked by a 10.8% increase in its turnover to 9.895 billion euros.
This is despite the fact that for the next two quarters, he expects to "not be able to maintain the level of growth" from the beginning of the year, due to an "exceptionally high third quarter last year, which creates a somewhat complicated basis for comparison," says Mr. Roger.
"A solid start to the year," note Oddo BHF analysts, who are awaiting "even more details regarding the impact of US customs duties" and believe that the confirmation of Sanofi's full-year forecasts "is already a reassuring element."
At around 10:25 a.m. (08:25 GMT), the share price fell by 1.21% to 92.11 euros on the Paris Stock Exchange, which fell by 0.92%.
On the profitability side, net profit came to 1.893 billion euros, compared to 1.133 billion euros published in the same period last year, which had been weighed down by restructuring costs and the separation of its Opella over-the-counter drugs division.
The sale of a majority stake in this entity to the American fund CD&R of 50% "should take place in the coming weeks," according to Sanofi.
English 
French