Sanofi announces UK plant closure
Loss of 450 jobs expected at Fawdon Manufacturing Centre, Newcastle-upon-Tyne by June 2015
French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi is to close its Fawdon Manufacturing Centre in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the UK, with the loss of 450 jobs.
The company said the plant, which makes solid dose oral medications mainly for UK and European markets, would close by mid-2015.
Sanofi said the plans to cease all activity at the plant were being considered in the context of ‘an adverse economic climate and the challenging pharmaceutical market in Europe’.
The products manufactured at the Fawdon site, including blood thinner Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate), have been adversely affected by other factors, including generic competition resulting in a fall in demand and production volumes, the firm said.
In 2011 Sanofi reported that sales of Plavix in Europe had fallen 30% to €574m and the loss of patent protection later this year for Plavix and Avapro in the US is expected to reduce Sanofi’s net income by €1.4bn in 2012.
Employees at the site have been notified of the proposal and a consultation period is now underway with the Unite trade union, which said the decision, was a ‘devastating blow for Newcastle’.