Sanofi investment: Good for patients and for Frankfurt

Sanofi can begin construction of a new insulin production facility in Frankfurt. Despite the long tradition, it is not a given that the new facility will be built here. And there is a fly in the ointment.

What takes a long time is finally good: two years after the pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced a billion-dollar investment in its Frankfurt site, the way is clear. The EU Commission has approved state aid of 400 million euros, with which the federal government, the state of Hesse and the city of Frankfurt are supporting the project.

With the construction of a new production facility for insulin, the production of vital medicines in Germany will be secured for the future. This is reassuring for millions of diabetics who do not have to fear that insulin will have to be imported in large quantities in the future and that insulin could become scarce in this country due to supply chain disruptions, trade disputes or even military conflicts.

Frankfurt had to tremble

For the 6,500 Sanofi employees in Frankfurt's Höchst industrial park, the billion-dollar investment means that their location will continue to offer many good jobs in the future. More than half of the employees in Höchst are involved in the production of insulin or the associated injection devices, and diabetes medications make up a significant proportion of the sales that Sanofi Germany generates. Without a new production facility, the production of insulin in Frankfurt would come to an end - after more than 100 years.

Despite the long tradition, it is not a given that the new facility will be built here. The company's board of directors in Paris is said to have flirted with bringing insulin production to France, especially since government funding was also attractive there. That was the reason why the city, state and federal government put together a subsidy package.

Despite all the joy about the decision in favor of Frankfurt, it is a downer. Actually, it shouldn't be necessary to pay tax money to a pharmaceutical company to modernize a traditional location with a highly specialized workforce.