Wayne Shi, president of France-based Sanofi’s (NASDAQ: SNY) Greater China business, has been discussing the firm’s ongoing commitment to the China market with local media. Speaking to China Daily, Shi emphasized that Sanofi has “always been optimistic about the Chinese market and will continuously expand our investment in China.” Sanofi aims to make continuous breakthroughs in digital innovation and local research and development in China, with the goal of becoming a ‘local-multinational’ pharmaceutical company, according to Shi.
China as a Key Market for Sanofi
China is Sanofi’s second-largest individual country market behind the United States, generating EUR 3.12 billion (USD 3.37 billion) in sales in 2022 with growth at 6.2% year-on-year. Shi’s comments come alongside the recent market launch of type 2 diabetes therapy Soliqua (insulin glargine, lixisenatide), which is set to be manufactured at Sanofi’s Beijing plant, currently the firm’s biggest injections facility in the Asia-Pacific. Shi promised hundreds of millions of renminbi investment to expand capacity at that plant in support of Soliqua’s launch.
Research and Development in China
In terms of R&D, Shi noted that “Sanofi has been increasing R&D investment in the Chinese market for more than 10 years.” This includes the establishment of a global clinical data operations center in Chengdu, Sichuan province, in 2018, and the opening in 2021 of the Sanofi Institute for Biomedical Research in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, the firm’s first global research institute in China, focused on biological research in disease areas such as immunology and inflammation, oncology, rare diseases/blood disorders, neurology, and diabetes.
Global Development Strategy and Future Plans
Sanofi is also strongly focused on including China in its global simultaneous development strategy, participating in over 80% of Sanofi’s global late-stage clinical development programs by the end of 2021, and increasingly gaining inclusion in earlier-stage projects. “We expect to introduce more than 25 innovative products into China between 2020 and 2025, covering immunity and inflammation, rare diseases and rare blood diseases, oncology, vaccines, cardiovascular and diabetes,” as promised by Shi.
