Sanofi's investment in the United States is "not a problem," says Macron

President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that Sanofi's $20 billion investment in the United States was not new and "not a problem," in an interview with a dozen regional press outlets, including Ouest-France , published Friday evening. On Wednesday, the French pharmaceutical group announced it wanted to invest "at least $20 billion in the United States" over five years, dedicated to "a significant increase in research and development spending" in the country and "to American production."

On Thursday, Economy Minister Éric Lombard deplored a "bad signal at a time when we consider and are convinced that (...) Europe and France are the place where we must invest." "Sanofi has discussed this with us, so there is no problem," Emmanuel Macron assured on Friday, according to his comments to regional newspapers reported by Ouest-France .

"I want to emphasize two things: they did not announce any new euros, they summarized the investments that were underway and they are doing roughly the same thing in France in terms of investment amounts," Mr. Macron added in this interview. He "considers that this is not a problem at all," and continues: "Sanofi did like several of its competitors: it wanted to show that it was not disinterested in the American productive fabric in order to avoid ad hoc sanctions, since in fact the regulation on [pharmaceutical laboratories] is a little different, the Americans will do it on a case-by-case basis" to set the prices of medicines, he explains.

His Minister of Economy said on Thursday that he "would have preferred Sanofi to make a different decision." Sanofi's unions also criticized the investment, seeing it as an "industrial and social disengagement from the pharmaceutical sector in Europe."

"Because Trump is getting agitated, Sanofi is releasing the figures," Fabien Mallet, CGT Sanofi France, told AFP, anticipating that "research will shift to the United States." With their strategic choice focused on the American market, the laboratories "have not even given the Europeans time to find an alternative solution," Adil Bensetra, of the CFDT, was indignant, fearing "a total loss of our health sovereignty within 4 to 6 years."

With its threats of tariffs on drug imports, the new government in Washington has already forced other major names in the sector to change their minds: Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and Roche have all said they are ready to launch very large-scale investments in the United States.