Sanofi Continues Site Expansions, Preparing for Future Pandemics
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The COVID-19 pandemic has taught many lessons to the pharmaceutical industry. Sanofi is proving a worthy student as it announced today yet another expansion of its manufacturing capacity, this time in Singapore.
Scientists have proven they can work day and night to produce life-saving vaccines and treatments at breakneck speeds when the world depends on it. Manufacturing has shown to be a bottleneck to their scientific advancements.
Sanofi declares “not on our watch” by pouring money into increasing vaccine manufacturing capacity at its Singapore site with a roughly $476 million investment over the next five years. The new factory will include cutting-edge technology, allowing production of three to four vaccines simultaneously, a massive improvement on the current limitation of one vaccine in an industrial site.
“As a major healthcare player, it’s our responsibility to act and to meet the unprecedented growing demands for vaccines. By investing in a new production site in Singapore, Sanofi is aiming to strengthen production capacity to meet ever-growing global demands on vaccines, and answer more rapidly to future pandemics,” said Thomas Triomphe, executive vice president and global head of Sanofi Pasteur.
Expected to start construction in Q3 of this year, the site will become the regional center and main supplier for vaccines in Asia. The plan is to have it fully operational in early 2026 and add 200 jobs to the area.
Less than two weeks ago, the company also announced a new facility in Canada to increase global availability of Sanofi’s high-dose influenza vaccine.
The Fluzone vaccine has four times more antigen than a standard-dose vaccine, offering superior protection particularly to aging adults, those most at risk for serious cases of the flu. This new site should also be operational in 2026, adding to the manufacturing output from current locations in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania. Sanofi is investing in new facilities in Swiftwater and Val-de-Reuil, France as well.
After some setbacks due to an inadequate formulation of its vaccine, Sanofi and GSK finally initiated its Phase II study of its adjuvanted recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine candidate. This candidate includes two injections given 21 days apart in 720 volunteers in the US, Honduras and Panama.
Sanofi’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed with Translate Bio, MRT5500, has now begun a Phase I/II trial. The companies are working on improving the temperature stability of the vaccine, to keep it stable at -20 degree C (-4 degrees F) storage temperature. The ultimate hope is to enable storage at 2-8 degrees C (35.6-46.4 degrees F).
Last December, Sanofi signed a lease for a massive 2-building, 900,000 square foot development being built in Cambridge, Massachusetts to house 2,700 employees from different offices around the area.
EVP for Sanofi Genzyme Bill Sibold said, ““Cambridge Crossing is a critical investment in our infrastructure and our people, and the move will allow us to reimagine the way we work together to develop transformative treatments for patients.”
These expansion announcements fall in line with a growth strategy announced by Sanofi’s CEO in December to prioritize vaccines, accelerate R&D and improve operating efficiencies.