Over the last year, Sanofi has been busy reshaping itself to focus more on innovative drugs, including selling a controlling stake in its former consumer business and using those proceeds to strike a series of M&A deals. On Friday, the company’s dealmaking spree continued with another sale.
Sanofi has agreed to sell its Medley generics unit in Brazil to leading local drugmaker EMS, according to an announcement from international law firm Mayer Brown, which advised EMS.
The deal, which requires signoff from Brazilian regulators, will allow EMS to “expand its offerings in the Brazilian generics segment and accelerate the development of new and innovative products,” the announcement said.
Marcus Sanchez, a vice president at EMS, told reporters the deal’s value came in above $500 million, according to Reuters.
No plant closures are expected as a result of the transaction, Sanchez added. Instead, the combined company intends to invest for the future, he explained.
Sanofi picked up Medley back in 2009 in a transaction valued at 500 million euros, according to an announcement at the time. When Sanofi bought the firm, Medley was the third-largest pharma company in Brazil and the top generics maker there, boasting more than 100 products in its portfolio, the announcement said.
The sale follows last year’s move by Sanofi to offload a controlling interest in Opella, its former consumer business, for 10 billion euros. In the wake of that transaction, Sanofi went on a buying spree, picking up biotechs Vigil Neuroscience, Blueprint Medicines and Dynavax before the year was out.
Besides its M&A transactions of the last 12 months, Sanofi made several moves earlier this decade to sell rights to established and consumer health medicines, including striking agreements with Stada in 2021 and 2023.
More recently, Sanofi parted ways with its former, CEO Paul Hudson. Merck KGaA leader Belén Garijo is set to take the reins at Sanofi at the end of April.
