Concerns surrounding a sale of the French generic medicines giant Biogaran (AFP/Archives/Christophe ARCHAMBAULT)
Will the French generic medicines giant Biogaran be sold to an Indian group? The rumor raises a number of concerns, particularly in terms of relocations, and the government promises to be ready to act.
The State “is very vigilant” regarding a possible sale of Biogaran, currently owned by the Servier group, declared Thursday the Minister Delegate in charge of Industry, Roland Lescure.
Little known to the general public, Biogaran is nevertheless present in the lives of many French people. It is a giant in generic medicines, that is to say treatments that have fallen into the public domain and whose manufacturing is not reserved for the owner of their patent.
Less expensive than their patented versions, these treatments are therefore widely sold. Biogaran claims to produce one in eight boxes of medicines of all those sold in France.
However, it could come under foreign control, according to increasingly insistent rumors. According to Les Echos on Wednesday, Servier has put Biogaran up for sale for several months and two Indian buyers are in the running.
The driving force behind this decision, according to the newspaper, is the particularly unprofitable nature of generic production in France, a regret regularly expressed by the entire sector.
These sales rumors are not new, having already given rise to an article in the magazine L’Informé in December. And nothing is official: questioned by AFP, Servier assured Thursday that “no decision” had been taken regarding Biogaran, while recalling its attention to “maximizing the potential” of its activities.
But the Echos article has already sparked particularly strong reactions within the political world.
On the right, Xavier Bertrand, LR president of Hauts-de-France, asked the government to “oppose this sale” if the buyer was not European, while on the far right, Florian Philippot , president of the Patriots, denounced a “new betrayal” of the executive.
MP Bertrand Pancher, head of the composite parliamentary group Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories (Liot), deemed it “urgent” and “essential” that Biogaran remains French.
– “Health reconquest” –
As is often the case, in the event of a sale to a foreign group, concerns focus on the risks of relocation and job losses in France. The group, which itself has 240 employees, mainly plays a big role through its subcontractors with 8,600 jobs at stake.
But the stakes are even greater given the persistent context of drug shortages. For several years, it has become difficult to find certain, sometimes very common, treatments in pharmacies.
This phenomenon does not have a single cause, but economists cite in particular the increasing concentration of the production of active ingredients – the basis of medicines – in China and India.
One case is emblematic of the supply difficulties: amoxicillin, the most commonly prescribed antibiotic. However, it is one of the many molecules produced by Biogaran, an activity largely carried out in Europe.
The group claims to produce 90% of its medicines in Europe and a good half of them in France, figures which not only take into account the activity directly controlled by the group but also that of its subcontractors.
Would a foreign buyer relocate this activity en masse, at the risk of worsening shortages? It is impossible to go beyond pure speculation at this time, but the situation is potentially embarrassing for the government.
This has, in fact, made “health recovery” a stated objective, in the wake of difficulties observed during the Covid crisis of 2020-2021, in particular shortages of masks.
He promised to relocate to France all or part of the production of around fifty drugs considered essential.
In this context, the executive therefore assured Thursday, through Mr. Lescure, that it was ready to act in the event of the sale of Biogaran to a foreign investor.
“We are leaving ourselves the possibility of activating the so-called IEF procedure (foreign investment in France, Editor’s note)”, specified the minister, recalling that this tool makes it possible to “control investments made by foreign companies in France in strategic sectors” .
© 2024 AFP
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