Sanofi Grows Antibody Production in France with €40 Million Investment

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Editor's note: this story was originally published on BioPharmInternational.com.

Sanofi has invested €40 million (US$42 million) into its Lyon Gerland bioproduction site in France to boost antibody production. As part of the investment, €25 million (US$26 million) is going toward dedicated production and development of a Thymoglobulin (anti-thymocyte globulin [rabbit]) second-generation product, the company stated in a Nov. 15, 2024 press release. Thymoglobulin is Sanofi's polyclonal antibody for treating transplant patients (1).

Also under the investment, more than €15 million (US$15.7 million) will be put toward internalizing and localizing the preclinical and clinical production of monoclonal antibodies for treating type 1 diabetes in France.

“With this significant investment, we are strengthening our footprint and leadership in bioproduction from France to serve our ambitions in immunology. Our Lyon Gerland site already holds a central place in the Lyon ecosystem of life sciences, and this investment serves as a new step to allow us to accelerate its increased role in serving patients in France and around the world,” said Charles Wolf, general manager France, Sanofi, in a company press release (1).

The company’s polyclonal antibody is an immunosuppressant that is manufactured exclusively at the Lyon Gerland site. Sanofi produces 1.6 million vials of Thymoglobulin at the site to treat approximately 70,000 patients per year in 74 countries (1). In anticipation of the growing number of transplant patients worldwide, the company has developed a new manufacturing process that will increase production capacity for Thymoglobulin, ensure reliable supply, and further improve the product's environmental impact. Modernization work started in the summer of 2024, and the first industrial batches are slated to be produced in 2025 with the first commercial batches expected to be available in 2027.

“Production of this medicine will continue in the meantime and in parallel, according to the process currently in force, which guarantees its availability for patients,” Sanofi stated in its press release.

The bioproduction platform at the Lyon Gerland site is also flexible, allowing the company to internalize production of an immunomodulatory drug for treating unmet need in patients with preclinical type 1 diabetes. This drug, which the company has not named in its release, was previously produced outside the European Union and not by Sanofi. The development of the bioproduction area to produce this drug will begin in early 2025. The first batches are expected to be produced by the end of 2025 and commercial marketing is expected to start in 2027 (1).

Overall, Sanofi has committed more than €2.5 billion (US$2.6 billion) to major projects since the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the company has invested more than €1 billion (US$1.05 billion) in bioproduction. The company ensures that 60% of its global production is within the European Union, it stated in its press release.

Reference

1. Sanofi. Sanofi Strengthens Antibody Bioproduction in France with an Investment of More Than 40 Million Euros On Its Lyon Gerland Site. Press Release. Nov. 15, 2024.

Source: Sanofi