Sanofi recently announced that it is investing €40 million in its Lyon Gerland bioproduction site as it seeks to bolster its position in the immunology space.

The investment will support production in France of the transplant drug Thymoglubulin, including €25 million toward developing and manufacturing a second-generation version of the drug. The remaining €15 million will go toward producing monoclonal antibodies for the type 1 diabetes treatment Tzield, the company said in a Nov. 15 news release.

Charles Wolf, Sanofi’s GM in France, noted that Lyon Gerland site already holds a central place in the Lyon life sciences ecosystem. It’s the sole manufacturing site of Thymoglubulin, annually producing 1.6 million vials to treat approximately 70,000 patients in 74 countries. Modernization work started over the summer, including a new manufacturing process to boost production, make the supply more reliable and reduce environmental impact.

Sanofi is also bringing Tzield production in-house, with the development of a bioproduction zone starting early next year at Lyon Gerland. It plans to produce the first batches by the end of 2025, having them available for marketing in 2027.

The company has committed more than €2.5 billion to major projects since the Covid-19 pandemic, with an additional investment of  more than €1 billion in bioproduction announced last May,