The door remains open. While the Servier laboratory, parent company of Biogaran, announced in September that it was abandoning the sale of its generics subsidiary, without ruling out launching a new “strategic review” of its assets subsequently, its president, Olivier Laureau, confirms that he will remain attentive to possible takeover proposals.
Read the decryption | Article reserved for our subscribers Biogaran: the possible sale of the French flagship of generic medicines raises concerns
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« We remain open to any offer which respects employment and the industrial footprint, and which is committed to creating value in the region, while meeting our financial objectives. », specified Mr. Laureau, Friday November 22, in an interview with The new factory.
Wishing to concentrate its efforts on the research and development of innovative drugs, particularly in oncology, the pharmaceutical group launched steps a year ago to find a buyer for Biogaran. The number one generic in France, which has sold more than 345 million boxes of drugs over the last twelve months, then attracted the attention of several candidates, including that of the British investment fund BC Partners, and Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers. Aurobindo and Torrent.
“Some gaps”
The possibility of a sale to a foreign actor of Biogaran, which represents more than one box of reimbursed medicines in eight delivered in France, had however triggered an avalanche of political reactions, with some fearing a loss of national sovereignty in the event of relocation of production.
The former Minister for Industry, Roland Lescure, took up the matter in particular in the spring. He then set several red lines for suitors, not ruling out blocking the sale through the foreign investment procedure in France if the criteria set were not met. At the beginning of September, Servier finally gave up on selling its subsidiary, judging that the conditions were not met.
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Asked by The new factory on the reasons for this failure, Olivier Laureau recognized that « some gaps (…) [avaient] leads applicants to express reservations”however denying that state intervention could have played a role. According to a good expert on the matter, who wishes to remain anonymous, the red lines imposed by Bercy would have contributed in part to cooling certain enthusiasm. For his part, Mr. Laureau rather refers to the absence of “visibility on the safeguard clause »this specific contribution to the pharmaceutical sector, which allows the State to control drug spending, and which can be expensive for laboratories. The fact remains that, during the summer, the Indian Aurobindo, the big favorite for the takeover, threw in the towel.
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