Sanofi - Statistics & Facts

Published by Statista Research Department, Jan 16, 2020

The multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi was created in 2004 by the merger of the two French companies Sanofi-Synthélabo and Aventis. Operating under the name Sanofi-Aventis until 2011, this company, which is based on the outskirts of Paris in Gentilly, is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies offering medicine, generics, consumer health products, and vaccines. In addition to human health, the group also had an animal health business, Merial. In 2017, Sanofi sold this to the German group Boehringer-Ingelheim in exchange for their consumer healthcare business.

However, the company's main activity is the manufacture of medicine. Sanofi's treatments focus on rare diseases, multiple sclerosis, cancer, and diabetes, as well as autoimmune, infectious, and cardiovascular diseases. Thus, the pharmaceutical sector generates four-fifths of the group's total turnover. The group's flagship product, Lantus, long-term insulin, generates 15 percent of the group's total revenues of nearly 40 billion euros.

About 45 percent of the group's 106,000 employees are active in Europe. Most of the staff work in the pharmaceutical sector, while about 15,000 people are employed in the vaccine division.

Vaccine sales amounted to more than 5 billion euros in 2018. Sanofi Pasteur, the group's vaccines division, is one of the world's leaders in this field. From its global headquarters in Lyon, Sanofi Pasteur markets more than one billion doses of vaccines against influenza, polio, pertussis, meningitis, pneumonia, as well as travel vaccines each year. As a result, the group is responsible for annually generating vaccines for 500 million people worldwide.

Recently, the group launched the very first dengue fever vaccine. Produced in France and authorized since 2015 in several countries affected by dengue fever, such as Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines, Dengvaxia generated approximately 55 million euros in 2016.

Sanofi is a global leader in healthcare and pharmaceuticals based in Paris, France. In 2019, Sanofi generated about 36.1 billion euros in revenues, the highest in recent years. In general, the company’s revenues have been increasing since 2006 when their revenues were 28.4 billion euros.

Sanofi’s company profile

Sanofi is one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies and its subsidiaries include Genzyme, Sanofi Pasteur, and Aventis Pharma, to name a few. Sanofi is ranked among the top ten global pharmaceutical companies based on market capitalization. Likewise, the company is ranked among the top six global pharmaceutical companies based on its prescription sales.

Sanofi’s products and revenues

Sanofi works in several therapeutic sectors including health and wellbeing, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, oncology, immunology, multiple sclerosis, rare diseases, rare blood disorders, and vaccines. A majority of Sanofi’s revenues can be attributed to their pharmaceutical sector. Sanofi’s top pharmaceutical products, based on revenues include Lantus, Aubagio, and Lovenox. Lantus is long-acting insulin for use in type I and types II diabetes. Sanofi also used to have an animal health sector but the business was sold to Boehringer Ingelheim in 2016.

Sanofi has around 75 manufacturing sites in 33 countries globally and sells its pharmaceuticals in more than 170 countries. The company has three major business units: Pharmaceuticals, Vaccines, and Consumer Health. Sanofi’s pharmaceutical sector accounts for much of the company’s revenues, followed by their vaccine sector. Their top therapeutic areas based on revenue are their established prescription products, diabetes products, and rare disease products.

Pharmaceutical employment

The impact of the pharmaceutical industry on not only health but also employment is evident. Overall global pharmaceutical employment has been increasing in recent years. The largest pharmaceutical companies based on the number of employees include Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, and Novartis. Globally the countries with the largest number of pharmaceutical employees include China, India, and the United States.

Sanofi's expenditure on research and development 2008-2019

In 2019, biopharmaceutical company Sanofi spent approximately six billion U.S. dollars on research and development. Sanofi’s R&D expenditures have increased with each consecutive year since 2013.

The French pharmaceutical giant

Sanofi Société Anonyme (or Sanofi S.A.), headquartered in Paris, France, is active in more than one hundred countries worldwide, with a global workforce of over 100 thousand people in 2019. In the same year, the company generated most of its revenue (over 24 billion U.S. dollars) from its pharmaceuticals segment, while about five billion U.S. dollars were earned through the company’s prosperous vaccines segment. Sanofi Pasteur (Sanofi’s vaccine segment) is a global leader in the world of vaccines. In 2018, this business segment specifically generated almost 1.9 billion U.S. dollars through vaccines for polio, pertussis (whooping cough), and Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b).

Clinical trials

A clinical trial or study is conducted in order to uncover whether a particular compound is efficient and safe to use for the treatment of people. It is a lengthy process that can take several years. Such trials are also necessary to get a vaccine or a drug approved for marketing purposes.

SOURCE: Statista.com