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Why is Bourla (Pfizer) slinging Macron

2 years ago babelfish

Why is Bourla (Pfizer) slinging Macron

Here are agreements and tunes in France between the giant Pfizer and Macron. Facts, numbers, announcements, investments and scenarios on projects (not only anti Covid) underlined by the number one of the pharmaceutical giant

With its Covid vaccine, Pfizer has established itself as theleading pharmaceutical giant in the fight against the pandemic and France opens its doors to the pharmaceutical giant not only to fight the virus but also for future projects. Projects worth more than 520 million euros.

In fact, this is the sum that the company will invest in the country over the next five years and this is what Pfizer's CEO, Albert Bourla, announced.

WHAT PFIZER WILL DO IN FRANCE

In an interview with Le Figaro , Bourla stated that with the more than 520 million euros that the group will invest in France over the next five years, on the one hand, it will strengthen "its production capacity through an agreement with Novasep, which will produce the active ingredient of Paxlovid [Pfizer's anti Covid pill, ed ] at the Mourenx site (in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region) "and on the other" it will invest in French biotechnologies and significantly increase its clinical studies with French patients ".

WHY FRANCE?

Asked why to invest in France, Pfizer's CEO replied: “What has opened the doors for us is a new France, welcoming to foreign investments, especially industrial ones. The reforms have made the country very competitive ”.

But not only. There was also praise for the skills in the field of pharmaceutical technologies, considered by Bourla to be "among the best in Europe", with "high profile" researchers and "highly qualified" workforce.

"The interest of President Macron made the difference", admitted the CEO. "Over the past two years he has met several times with the leaders of the pharmaceutical industry, reiterating his intention to make France a champion of health care."

MACRON'S PROJECTS

Is this important agreement with Pfizer, Les Echos wonders, a first result of the measures intended to make France more attractive for laboratories? In particular, for the simplification of market access for innovative medicines?

It is true that we will start with the fight against Covid, but the projects will go much further. Pfizer, in fact, reports the newspaper, will invest in research and development through preclinical research collaborations. The main therapeutic areas on which the giant will focus are those in which France has a recognized expertise such as oncology, rare diseases and autoimmune diseases, for which the number of patients who will participate in its clinical trials will significantly increase.

MACRON'S NEXT STEPS (TOGETHER WITH PFIZER) AGAINST COVID

Already in November, the French High Authority for Health (Has) had advised against the use of Moderna's vaccine for the third dose for under 30s, preferring only Pfizer's, in the wake of Sweden and Denmark for a precautionary principle.

In addition to vaccines, France, as Bourla said in the interview, will receive its anti-Covid pill , Paxlovid, at the end of January. And precisely in view of the request that there will be Pfizer announced that it has signed a letter of intent with Novasep, a manufacturer specialized in pharmaceutical chemistry, which will produce the active ingredient of the drug.

The Novasep plant, a Pfizer press release reads, should be integrated into the supply chain "from the third quarter of 2022", "with future expansion to other Novasep sites to significantly increase volumes in 2023".

“Thanks to our agreement with Novasep, – added Bourla – the active ingredient of Paxlovid will no longer be imported only from Asia”.

THE ROLE OF EUROPE IN THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR

Bringing Europe back to a key role in health is Macron's intent and this is a golden moment. “Over the next ten years there will be a boom in the sector, driven by science and demographics, with increasing life expectancy and the emergence of new diseases. Our sector – predicts Bourla – will experience a scientific renaissance, thanks to the combination of the discoveries of biology and the power of technology ”.

“In the past – he concluded – Europe had an important role in the production of active ingredients but the lack of economic incentives led it to relocate to Asia. Production must be brought back to Europe and the problem of access to raw materials must be tackled ”.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/perche-bourla-pfizer-slinguazza-macron/ on Tue, 18 Jan 2022 10:39:48 +0000.