法国制药巨头赛诺菲宣布将出售其消费健康部门的控股权给美国投资基金CD&R，引发了法国政界和社会的强烈反对。此举被认为是法国失去对关键药物的主权，并可能导致工作岗位流失和生产外包。法国政府承诺采取措施保护就业和生产，并保留对Opella的少量股权，但批评人士认为这些措施不足以阻止潜在的风险。此次交易还引发了人们对法国药物供应安全的担忧，因为在新冠疫情期间和之后，法国曾出现过药物短缺问题。

🇫🇷 法国制药巨头赛诺菲宣布将出售其消费健康部门Opella的控股权给美国投资基金CD&R，引发法国政界和社会强烈反对。 该交易涉及160亿欧元（约合174亿美元），Opella是赛诺菲的子公司，生产包括止痛药多潘（Doliprane）在内的多种知名药物。多潘是法国市场上最受欢迎的退烧止痛药，其黄色包装盒在法国药房随处可见。 法国政府承诺采取措施保护Opella的就业和生产，包括保留对Opella的2%股权，并承诺不裁员和不将生产外包。但批评人士认为这些措施不足以阻止潜在的风险，并担心法国失去对关键药物的主权。

💼 法国政界人士和工会对赛诺菲的出售计划表示强烈反对，他们担心该交易将导致工作岗位流失和生产外包，并削弱法国在制药领域的竞争力。 法国左翼政党“不屈服的法国”的领导人曼努埃尔·邦帕德（Manuel Bompard）呼吁政府利用保护战略行业的权力阻止出售。工会代表也表示，他们对政府的承诺并不放心，并认为政府应该采取更强有力的措施来保护法国的制药产业。

⚠️ 此次交易也引发了人们对法国药物供应安全的担忧。 法国在新冠疫情期间和之后曾出现过药物短缺问题，许多人担心赛诺菲出售Opella将加剧这一问题。法国政府承诺在协议中加入条款，以确保Opella在法国继续生产关键药物，包括多潘、消化药兰索拉（Lanzor）和阿司匹林品牌阿斯佩奇（Aspegic）。但批评人士指出，这些条款可能无法阻止CD&R在未来将生产外包到其他国家。

🇨🇵 法国政府表示，他们将密切关注此次交易，并采取措施阻止任何可能损害法国利益的行为。 法国总统马克龙表示，政府拥有必要的工具来保护法国免受任何不必要的“资本所有权”。但批评人士认为，政府的承诺不足以打消人们的担忧，并呼吁政府采取更强有力的措施来保护法国的制药产业。

💰 此次交易是赛诺菲战略调整的一部分，该公司计划将更多精力集中在创新药物和疫苗的开发上，例如针对脊髓灰质炎、流感和脑膜炎的疫苗。 赛诺菲表示，将Opella出售给CD&R将有助于Opella成为一家以法国为总部，面向全球的消费健康领域的领军企业。但批评人士认为，此举将损害法国的制药产业，并可能导致法国失去在该领域的竞争力。

French drugmaker Sanofi’s confirmation that it will sell a controlling stake in its consumer health unit to a US investment fund sparked a new political backlash Monday, stoked by fears the deal marks a loss of sovereignty over key medications.Paris “must block the sale” using powers to protect strategic sectors, Manuel Bompard, a senior lawmaker in the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, told the TF1 broadcaster.Politicians and unions have torn into Sanofi’s proposed 16-billion-euro ($17.4 billion) deal with US investment fund CD&R for a controlling stake in Opella.The subsidiary makes household-name drugs including Doliprane branded paracetamol — whose yellow boxes dominate the French market.Under pressure, Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s minority government said it had secured a two-percent stake in Opella for public investment bank Bpifrance and “extremely strong” guarantees against job cuts and offshoring.Opella employs over 11,000 workers and operates in 100 countries.Sanofi said it is the third-largest business worldwide in the market for over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and supplements.CD&R — which has a battery of investments in France — would help build Opella into a “French-headquartered, global consumer healthcare champion”, the pharma giant said in a statement.‘Just words’But with memories of drug shortages during and since the Covid-19 pandemic still raw for many, critics say the defences are too weak.A small stake “won’t give the French state a say in strategic decisions” at Opella, said Bompard, whose LFI dominates a left alliance that is the largest opposition group against Barnier and President Emmanuel Macron.Thomas Portes, also of the LFI, posted on X that the government had offered “no guarantees, just words”.Economy Minister Antoine Armand said a contract between CD&R, Sanofi and the government included maintaining production sites, research and development and Opella’s official headquarters in France, as well as investing at least 70 million euros over five years.It covers “keeping up a minimum production volume for Opella’s sensitive products in France,” Armand added, including Doliprane, digestive medication Lanzor and Aspegic branded aspirin.There would be financial penalties for closing French production sites, laying off workers or failing to buy from French suppliers.That includes Seqens, a company re-establishing production in France of Doliprane’s active ingredient paracetamol.“Workers are not at all reassured by the latest developments,” said Johann Nicolas, a CGT union representative at Opella’s Doliprane plant in Lisieux, northern France.He added that a picket had throttled production there from around 1.3 million boxes of the drug per day to around 265,000.The proposed protections in the deal have also failed to win over even some in the government camp.Monday’s guarantees “do not at all indicate a commitment for the long term, whether on investment, supply or jobs”, Charles Rodwell, a lawmaker in Macron’s EPR party who has closely followed the case, told AFP.He vowed “painstaking” parliamentary surveillance of government action over the deal including measures to “block” the sale if ministers fall short.Brand loyaltyMacron said last week that “the government has the instruments needed to protect France” from any unwanted “capital ownership”.Emotion over the Opella sales is closely linked to Doliprane.Boxes of the non-opioid analgesic against mild to moderate pain and fever often line entire pharmacy walls.The drug comes in many doses — from 100 mg for babies to 1,000 mg for adults — and in tablet, capsule, suppository and liquid forms.It is so ubiquitous that French people call any paracetamol product Doliprane, even when made by a different manufacturer.Sanofi, among the world’s top 12 healthcare companies, says the planned spinoff is part of a strategy to focus less on over-the-counter medication and more on innovative medicines and vaccines, including for polio, influenza and meningitis.Recommended newsletter Most Powerful Women Daily: Every weekday, MPW Daily provides original reporting, key insights, and expert perspectives on the women leading the moment in business and beyond. Sign up here.