From both the left and the right, parliamentarians from various political parties urged the Government on Friday, October 10, to block the sale of Opella, a Sanofi subsidiary responsible in particular for the manufacture of Doliprane.
Doliprane, the best-selling drug in France, is about to go under the American flag, after Sanofi announced on Friday that it was negotiating with the CD&R investment fund to transfer control of its subsidiary.
Several party leaders immediately took to their social networks. “The fragmented sale of France continues”criticized Jordan Bardella (National Rally). “No lesson will have been learned from Covid”noted Marine Tondelier (ecologist). Is “it’s a shame” AND “another symbol of our loss of sovereignty”judged Fabien Roussel (Communist Party).
Parliamentarians on all sides, from the left to elected officials who support the government, also called on the executive to oppose it. the operation “raises a very worrying issue for our national security”write some sixty deputies from the groups Ensemble pour la République (ex-Renaissance), Horizons, Démocrate (ex-MoDem) and Republican Right (ex-LR), at the initiative of deputy Charles Rodwell (EPR). “Doliprane is an essential medicine for the health of millions of French people”TO “Success for the Sanofi group”and the operation would go against “restoration of French sovereignty in health matters”they warn in a joint letter to the Minister of Economy, Antoine Armand.
They ask the Government to invoke an article of the Monetary and Financial Code that allows it to subject foreign investments in sensitive sectors to prior authorization.
“Health sovereignty”
Earlier on Friday, it was La France insoumise MPs who called on the government to block the transfer. “These people are ruining champagne by deindustrializing France”they denounced, pointing out “a sale worth 15 billion euros… and 7 billion in gifts to prospective shareholders”.
The head of the right-wing Republican group, Laurent Wauquiez, and the general rapporteur of the Social Security budget, Yannick Neuder (RD), also wrote to the minister with the same request: “It is essential that the State acts to protect our industrial vessels and guarantee the health sovereignty of France”.
“Although paracetamol was already impossible to get a few months ago… are they abandoning it? “Neither good for our health nor good for our jobs.”denounced in X the head of the socialist deputies, Boris Vallaud, asking the government to “react”.
According to consistent sources, the valuation, not specified, would be close to 16 billion euros. Opella claims to be number three in the world in over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, minerals and dietary supplements. This subsidiary manages, in addition to Doliprane, a hundred brands such as Mucosolvan, Maalox and Novanuit.
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The Ministers of Economy, Antoine Armand, and Industry, Marc Ferracci, asked on Friday for commitments from Sanofi and the future buyer to guarantee the “maintain headquarters and decision-making centers in the national territory” AND “Opella’s French industrial footprint”.
