On November 13, 2023, the Récipharm company announced the closure of its Monts site, south of Tours (Indre-et-Loire), specializing in sterile injectable pharmaceutical products. After the failure of the takeover by the Laprophan laboratory, it is finally Astrea which takes control of the pharmaceutical factory, to the great relief of its 225 employees and management, who specified in a press release last December: “the success of this takeover project was made possible thanks to the commitment and strong involvement of all stakeholders: the Recipharm and Astrea companies, management, employees, staff representatives and State services».
Social guarantees over three years
Relief is in order, especially as guarantees for the maintenance of activity and jobs have been obtained from the buyer thanks to the strong mobilization of employees and their CSE representatives. “After the cold snap, when Laprophan withdrew its offer from the ranks, Recipharm, under pressure from employees and the State – the sub-prefect for recovery Guillaume Saint-Cricq supported the file with the prefecture of Tours – agreed to take over the first buyer who came forward, Astrea, with whom we were very attentive to maintaining the site, jobs and activity and we won our case with guarantees at three years old», explains Grégoire Hamelin, FO37 general secretary. The signature includes the transfer of all 225 employees, the resumption of their employment contract, their seniority as well as their company agreements, with continued employment guaranteed for three years. “We also negotiated a transfer bonus during the negotiations with Laprophan – in the amount of 6000 euros – which could be maintained and granted to each employee» he adds.
Diversify the order book
On January 13, 2025, Frédéric Pétrus will take up his position as general manager of the site, replacing Guilhem Aulotte, who will join the Astrea commercial division. “Compared to Laprophan which developed products competing with ours, everything started well with Astrea. It must now maintain the level of activity and find new markets to ensure the sustainability of the site. We will ensure compliance with agreements and contractual salary negotiations, for the rest, we hope that Astrea will succeed in this diversification», comments Grégoire Hamelin who underlines the high technicality of the site to meet this challenge. The site stood out in particular during the Covid pandemic for its mastery of the production of vials for Moderna vaccines. The group was then supported by the State to the tune of 35 million euros to double its production capacity. As Astrea management reminds us, the objective is now to “develop the capabilities and potential of the site to make it a reference site for Astrea, specializing in sterile forms and serving markets on a global scale».
