On Monday, the French pharmaceutical group Sanofi announced its intention to take a 26.4% stake in the German family-owned company Cheplapharm and, at the same time, to sell to it three production sites specializing in the manufacture of the anticoagulant Lovenox.
“Cheplapharm would reacquire from Sanofi a selection of 20 mature medicines,” including Lovenox, as well as the related sites, namely Csanyikvölgy in Hungary (about 400 employees), Jurong in Singapore (about 100 employees) and Ploërmel in France, in the Morbihan department (about 65 employees), according to Sanofi in a press release.
Sanofi explains that this “new strategic partnership” fits within the group’s aim to “simplify” its portfolio of legacy medicines to “focus on therapeutic innovation,” “while ensuring that mature medicines remain accessible to patients who need them.”
The transaction is expected to be fully completed in the third quarter of 2027, with the commercial transfer of the medicine portfolio set to begin in the first quarter of 2027, followed by that of the sites, according to the press release.
Since the start of its collaboration with Sanofi in 2014, Cheplapharm has reacquired 28 legacy medicines, i.e., those that have long been marketed.
Founded in 1998, the German company employs more than 800 staff and posted €1.66 billion in revenue in 2025.
