Sanofi Renews Research Agreement with French Alliance and Begins Construction in Algeria

Sanofi this week announced plans to continue to invest in life-sciences research in France and, separately, announced the start of construction of a pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution center in Algeria that will strengthen its presence in Africa.

Sanofi and Aviesan, the French National Alliance for Life Sciences and Health, renewed a three-year agreement to cooperatively develop new treatments that target unmet medical needs, including rare diseases, according to a joint press release. The group will focus on translational research projects that bring together clinical and medical teams with fundamental research teams to translate research successes into medical advances. "Translational research combines clinical and basic research, underscoring the critical importance of linking industrial and academic expertise," said Professor André Syrota, president of Aviesan, in the press release.

"With the signing of several projects between Sanofi and Aviesan during the past three years, Sanofi has become the leading private partner of academic research in the life sciences," said Dr. Elias Zerhouni, president of global R&D at Sanofi, in the press release. "Strategic and operational committees have worked tirelessly to achieve this convergence of the best in French academic excellence and our own teams. We all committed to pursuing these vital interactions in order to accelerate scientific discoveries for the benefit of patients."

In Algeria, Sanofi has begun construction of a facility that will primarily produce both dry and liquid pharmaceutical forms and will house a distribution center, Sanofi announced in a press release. The new industrial site is located in the pharmaceutical and biotech cluster in the new town of Sidi Abdellah. The site will have a production and distribution capacity of 100 million units a year, which is approximately 80% of the volume distributed by Sanofi in Algeria. Sanofi has been present in Algeria for more than 20 years and has two other manufacturing sites in Ain Benian and Oued S'mar.

Sanofi and the Algerian Health Minister also stated their intention to execute an agreement to improve the screening and assessment of cardiovascular risk, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia and the evaluation of their common risk factors in the Algerian population together with influenza monitoring. The agreement’s objective will be to promote the awareness, screening, and therapeutic education of the Algerian public through a mobile medical clinic and aid in the training of health professionals.