March 4, 2016
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Paris-based Sanofi ’s vice president, David Meeker, who also heads Sanofi Genzyme , provided some insight into Genzyme’s activities in light of the parent company’s overall restructuring.
As reported yesterday, Sanofi has expressed some interest in new deals and acquisitions, especially in the area of rare diseases. This particular area is one of the remaining high-margin areas in pharmaceuticals, because drug prices can be so high with relatively little competition for each drug.
There have also been rumors about whether the job cuts Sanofi is conducting worldwide, even in France, were going to have a big impact in Massachusetts, where the Sanofi Genzyme campus is located. Particularly, there was news that Sanofi Genzyme was shifting employees out of its facility in Framingham, Mass. to a new 53,879-square-foot space.
Meeker, in an interview with The Boston Globe, indicates that, to the contrary, Genzyme plans to expand. The division, acquired by Sanofi SA in 2011, has focused on rare disease like Gaucher and Fabry disease. It also has a significant presence in multiple sclerosis. But now the plan is to expand even further into rare diseases, and in July some of Sanofi’s cancer and immunology programs were shifted to Sanofi Genzyme.
“Our approach to rare diseases is scalable,” Meeker told The Boston Globe. “The move to specialty care is being driven by science. As you understand the underlying biology of diseases better, it allows you to develop more specific therapies.”
Sanofi Genzyme employs about 5,000 people in Massachusetts, and Meeker indicates that it plans to expand over the next two years. Growth will occur at Sanofi Genzyme in addition to its research facilities in Cambridge, Waltham, and Framingham, as well as at its manufacturing facilities in Boston and Framingham.
Sanofi Genzyme also expects to broaden its global operations. Currently it has worldwide facilities, as well as partnerships with Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , and Cambridge, Mass.-based companies, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Voyager Therapeutics Inc.
“Over time,” said Meeker, “there will be an expansion of research and development. And the next [impact] for Sanofi Genzyme will be an increase of jobs over time.”
Which doesn’t mean there won’t be cuts in other areas, Meeker noted. An example is the 36 jobs eliminated in February from the company’s biomaterials group that supported Seprafilm.
Sanofi employs about 110,000 people worldwide, with about 17,000 in the U.S. On Feb. 1, company executives met with French union officials to discuss restructuring and layoffs. About 296 research and development jobs that were expected to be filled in France were being eliminated. Another 100 corporate jobs in France were being slashed, and another 155 jobs in the company’s commercial areas were being eliminated.
The company has not publicly discussed how many jobs it plans to slash globally. Sanofi SA’s 2015 revenue increased by 9.7 percent, while Sanofi Genzyme’s jumped almost 30 percent. That was mostly driven by sales of Aubagio, for multiple sclerosis.
Although Sanofi Genzyme gave up on cancer research several years ago, as part of the reorganization it is relaunching cancer research. It is also going to bolster its immunology drug pipeline, hoping to hear positive news about its rheumatoid arthritis drug, Sarilumab, in October from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Regeneron and Sanofi Genzyme are also hoping for approval next year for Dupilumab for an inflammatory skin condition. The drug is also being evaluated for the treatment of diabetic macular edema, macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion, and moderate-to-severe chronic sinusitis with nasal polyps (CSwNP).
