Sanofi: Massive investment in the United States goes down badly in France

"The scale of investment in the United States is certainly a bad signal at a time when we believe and are convinced that (...) Europe and France are the place to invest," declared Economy Minister Eric Lombard on BFM Business.

The French group announced on Wednesday that it plans 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 "in American production."

Sanofi is one of the last pharmaceutical giants to want to strengthen its presence there, responding to pressure from the President of the United States.

"Because Trump is getting agitated, Sanofi is releasing the figures," fumed Fabien Mallet, CGT Sanofi France, interviewed by AFP, anticipating that "research will shift to the United States."

"By investing heavily in the United States, the group is seeking to position itself as a domestic player, which could constitute a strategic advantage in upcoming tariff negotiations," Adrien Chantereine, a pharmaceutical sector expert at Circle Strategy, told AFP.

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.

"Total loss of sovereignty"

Sanofi, "20 billion for the USA: who can beat that?", the group's CGT union quipped in a statement, adding that "it's France that's financing it and America that's cashing in" and that "this isn't a shift, it's a massive relocation of research" to the United States.

The pharmaceutical industry, which has so far been spared from protectionism, has seen the climate change since Donald Trump's return to the White House and his threats of tariffs to accelerate the relocation of production.

The American president also announced his intention to reduce drug prices by 50 to 80 percent. This measure would affect manufacturers' profit margins, but "that didn't stop Sanofi from abandoning such a massive investment in such a short time" across the Atlantic, said Adil Bensetra of the CFDT (French Trade Union Confederation).

With their strategic choice focused on the American market, the laboratories "did not even give the Europeans time to find an alternative solution," the union representative said indignantly, fearing "a total loss of our health sovereignty within 4 to 6 years."

In April, taking advantage of Donald Trump's latent threats, the leaders of some thirty pharmaceutical champions wrote to the European Commission to demand a more attractive framework for drug prices and taxation.

For Sanofi, the "geographic rebalancing seems coherent" to Mr. Chantereine, given that it generates half of its turnover in the United States and achieves 25% of its production there.

The group also recently sold half of its over-the-counter products subsidiary, including Doliprane, to the American investment fund CD&R.

"In ten years, he has destroyed thousands of jobs through four layoff plans. He sells Doliprane to Americans, wants to sell the Amilly site but plans to invest 20 billion in the USA. What is the State doing? Nothing!" condemned the rapporteur of the Senate inquiry commission on public aid to large companies, the communist Fabien Gay, on Wednesday on X, recalling that "in ten years, Sanofi has obtained more than a billion in research tax credits."

Sanofi, which invests more than 2.5 billion euros each year in France, acknowledged to this committee a reduction of around a thousand jobs in R&D in France over ten years, but insisted on the absence of layoffs.

While no reduction in investment in France has been announced at this stage, "a gradual shift in priorities towards the most strategic and profitable areas is plausible in the medium term," Mr. Chantereine estimated.