Sector News

After 2 years, Sanofi’s drug ingredients spinoff takes flight

May 7, 2022
Life sciences

It’s official: Two years and one pandemic after Sanofi unveiled plans to spin off its European drug ingredients business, EUROAPI has debuted on the Euronext exchange. Shares in the new active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) outfit rose more than 3% in early trading despite a wider market slump.

EUROAPI is touting its position as a “leading player” on the API scene. Its launch comes as COVID-19 and, more recently, the war in Ukraine expose gaps in the world’s pharmaceutical supply chain. Many of the ingredients the pharmaceutical industry relies on are made in countries like China and India.

EUROAPI is angling to become the “partner of choice for all pharmaceutical and biotech companies.” It’s previously said it believes it’s the world’s top manufacturer of small molecules and the second largest API maker by revenue.

The Sanofi spinoff boasts a portfolio of roughly 200 APIs, which it markets to more than 500 customers across 80-plus countries, EUROAPI noted in a release.

EUROAPI employs around 3,350 staffers and operates six “state-of-the-art” manufacturing and development centers in France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and the U.K.

“By operating as an independent company, EUROAPI will gain flexibility and growth opportunities to reinforce its status as partner of choice for all pharmaceutical and biotech companies,” Karl Rotthier, the company’s CEO, said in a statement.

Sanofi has retained a roughly 30% stake in EUROAPI.

The company aims to generate 1 euros billion in 2022 revenue, building on the 893 million euros it posted last year. Looking ahead, the API process development and manufacturing market, which was valued at 72 billion euros (about $76.1 billion) in 2019, is expected to grow by about 6% to 7% per year until 2024, EUROAPI said.

At the same time, the global contract manufacturing and development market is expected to grow by 7% to 8% annually over that same stretch.

As part of its stock listing announcement, EUROAPI flagged four milestones on its strategic road map to capture the API market.

The company aims to accelerate its work as a CDMO, develop its existing product portfolio, expand its technical platforms and presence in highly differentiated and complex APIs and ensure operational efficiencies, EUROAPI said.

Sanofi pulled back the curtain on its API spinoff in 2020 as CEO Paul Hudson embarked on a quest to trim 2 billion euros from Sanofi’s annual expenses by 2022.

After joining the French drug major in 2019, the CEO imposed a “play to win” strategy, part of which involved deprioritizing struggling disease areas to double down in growth fields.

By Fraiser Kansteiner

Source: fiercepharma.com

comments closed

Related News

March 24, 2024

Johnson Matthey to sell its Medical Devices business for $700 million

Life sciences

Johnson Matthey Plc (JM; London) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell 100% of its Medical Device Components business (MDC) to Montagu Private Equity (Montagu) for cash consideration of US$700 million (£550 million) on a cash free debt free basis.

March 24, 2024

Lonza acquires biologics manufacturing plant in California from Roche

Life sciences

Lonza AG (Basel, Switzerland) announced it has signed an agreement to acquire the Genentech large-scale biologics manufacturing site in Vacaville, Calif. from Roche (Basel, Switzerland) for $1.2 billion. The acquisition will significantly increase Lonza’s large-scale biologics manufacturing capacity.

March 24, 2024

Roquette to acquire IFF Pharma Solutions to boost global excipient presence

Life sciences

Roquette plans to acquire International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) Pharma Solutions for an enterprise value of up to €2.85 billion (US$3.09 billion). With the acquisition set to close in the first half of 2025, the plant-based ingredient and pharmaceutical excipients supplier aims to reinforce its position in the pharmaceutical industry.

How can we help you?

We're easy to reach