Sanofi: the group’s financial communication in the sights of the PNF, an open investigation
The French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi in the crosshairs of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF). A preliminary investigation was opened in March for “dissemination of false or misleading information and price manipulation, entrusted to the financial brigade” and concerns “the financial communication of the Sanofi group”, a judicial source told AFP, confirming information from the media The letter.
According to the latter, the facts concern the financial communication of the laboratory on one of its star drugs: Dupixent. According to the Financial Markets Authority, constitutes price manipulation, “the fact of carrying out operations or issuing orders which give or are likely to give false or misleading indications on the supply, demand or price of financial instruments”.
When asked, the judicial source did not indicate whether searches or police custody had taken place to date as part of this investigation. Questioned by AFP, the group claimed not to be “aware” of an investigation.
Used in particular to treat asthma and eczema, Dupixent (its scientific name dupilumab) is a blockbuster, that is to say a drug which brings in more than a billion euros per year for the laboratory. In addition to atopic dermatitis and asthma, Dupixent is also approved in various countries for the treatment of nasal polyposis (sinus pathology), or even eosinophilic esophagitis (chronic esophageal disease).
The good results of Dupixent
Since his arrival as CEO of the group in 2019, Briton Paul Hudson has focused on the potential of Dupixent, with the objective of expanding sales and obtaining new therapeutic authorizations. The results are dazzling : sales, which were around 380 million euros in the third quarter of 2019, climbed to 2 billion euros at the end of 2019. And the drug is marketed in 34 countries compared to 18 countries when Paul Hudson arrived. Between 2020 and 2021, they increase from 3.5 to 5 billion euros.
In the third quarter, Dupixent is “approaching 11 billion euros in sales on an annual basis,” said CEO Paul Hudson at the end of October during the presentation of quarterly results. Investors, however, are wondering about the group’s dependence on this flagship drug, the patent for which will fall in 2031.
