Sanofi is investing €170 million to expand a vaccine manufacturing site in Val de Reuil, France. The expansion further strengthens Sanofi’s position as one of the world’s leading seasonal flu vaccine providers.
The new facility will allow Sanofi Pasteur, the Vaccines global business unit of Sanofi, to expand supply of VaxigripTetra® to up to 70 countries in six continents. The new quadrivalent influenza vaccine contains two A strains and two B strains of influenza virus, as per World Health Organization recommendation.
“Influenza continues be a major public health problem around the world, causing serious complications, hospitalizations and deaths, mostly for certain high-risk individuals,” said David Loew, Executive Vice President, Sanofi, and Head of Sanofi Pasteur. “As a global leader in flu vaccines, this expansion reinforces Sanofi Pasteur’s ability to tackle this underestimated health challenge.”
“This project brings together the expertise of our people with our leading industrial know-how and illustrates our commitment to manufacturing excellence solutions,” said Philippe Luscan, Executive Vice President, Global Industrial Affairs, Sanofi. “Our investment underlines Sanofi’s intent to strengthen our industrial capacities in France as a major centre of influenza vaccines production for worldwide markets.”
The new Val de Reuil facility will be the only site of its kind in France and Sanofi Pasteur remains the sole influenza vaccine producer in the country.
This investment is one of several major capital expenditures Sanofi has made in recent years to improve and expand its vaccine production capacities across France, the United States and Mexico.
Sanofi plans to complete the expansion by 2021, subject to relevant health authority approvals, and will begin producing vaccines in this new facility in 2022.