Neither strike threats nor angry government ministers have stopped Sanofi ($SNY) from pushing ahead with deep job cuts in France. The French newspaper Le Figaro reports that the pharma giant will unveil a cutback of 1,500 to 2,500 jobs on September 25.
French newspapers have been tracking the issue closely, tapping in on workers' anger that Sanofi has been successfully reaping some big profits as it reportedly preps cuts in R&D in Toulouse and Montpellier. And the French government has been caustic in its criticism of the anticipated move, which may encourage Sanofi to rely more on attrition as it scales back in Europe.
Outside observers have noted that Sanofi has been increasingly focused on beefing up its R&D work in major hubs like Boston, where Sanofi subsidiary Genzyme claimed a big win last week in winning the approval of the new multiple sclerosis drug Aubagio. Genzyme, Sanofi's biologics arm, is also pursuing an approval for Lemtrada, which is also positioned to grab a share of the growing MS market.
CEO Chris Viehbacher, an outspoken critic of the company's fallow research record over the past decade, has also had no qualms about the relative productivity of Sanofi's French research operations.
"The reality is that our research in France has not really come up with a new medicine in 20 years," he said recently, as reported by PMLive.
French workers, backed by French officials angered at the cuts at a time of profitability for the pharma company, are planning to protest the cuts on September 25th and early in October.
- here's the story from PMLive