"Au cleat", the employees of the factories of Agen and Passage d'Agen, where Upsa produces in particular Dafalgan and Efferalgan (number 2 and 3 on the market behind the Doliprane by Sanofi) take out between 800,000 and one million boxes per day, main remedy for Covid-19 symptoms. Because with the debate over chloroquine, we almost forget that paracetamol is expressly recommended to treat fever, headache and pain, symptoms of Covid-19 when it remains mild, the vast majority of cases.
“We have no claim to cure the disease. We treat the symptoms, and this is already very important in this period when people are going to have a fever, sometimes very strong, poses François Duplaix, CEO of Upsa, first private employer in Lot-et-Garonne. Paracetamol is the first-line molecule for fever, and we see the resounding recognition of its importance. "
The chains are running at full speed and the turbo has been put on the distribution
In Agen, paracetamol, usually 80% of production, is "currently close to 100%", says François Duplaix, CEO of Upsa. Thus, the chains, in 3X8 on paracetamol, are running at maximum and the turbo has been put on the distribution "with the addition of a night shift, shipments of 1.6 or even 2 million boxes / day, twice the usual rhythm ”. On stocks, "in general one to two months in France, we hold for the moment," says management.
Some 800 people, out of the usual 1,300, work on the sites, heir to the laboratory of the Union of Applied Scientific Pharmacology (Upsa) created in 1935 by a radiologist from Agen, inventor of an effervescent for gastric pain. The other employees are teleworking, considered vulnerable, prevented (children), or victims of Covid-19, with a dozen suspect cases and two proven according to management.
All are "well aware of the crucial role they play in this crisis, and in several countries," said Bruno Bouthol, FO delegate. But many come to work "with the ball in the stomach," says another delegate. Even if the safety culture, mask, gloves, gowns, is in the DNA of the laboratory. From the cloakroom to the company restaurant, to reinforced cleaning between rotations, the management ensures that they are in a safe situation. “Some chains are large with space, but others on 20 m2, there are three people. Inevitably there are interactions… ”, tempers a delegate who would like screenings to“ reassure ”. Also, 6,500 masks have been unlocked by the State, 12,000 are being shipped by the Japanese Taisho, who took over Upsa in 2019 from the American Bristol-Myers Squibb.
"We can think that this theme of" made in France "will be at the heart of CSIS"
Staff, as management, perfectly perceive the importance of the moment. "There were signs (that) governments were beginning to realize the importance of France's health independence. The Covid crisis made the problem "explode", underlines François Duplaix. About ten years ago, Upsa obtained raw materials, a chemical compound, in France from a subsidiary of the former Rhône-Poulenc. "All of this has been outsourced." Upsa now sources 85% in the United States, 15% in China.
"We can think that this theme of" made in France ", health independence, will be at the heart of the next CSIS" (Strategic Council of Health Industries, which brings together government and industry in the sector) in early 2021, safely advances the leader. Who by then calls for “a postponement or cancellation” of the drop in the prices of reimbursable paracetamol, scheduled for June.
The unions, however, hope that the state "will remember that the employees of Upsa worked for the common good". And will review its copy on prices, but also on… pensions. "Those who are clogged to produce paracetamol are those who were on the street yesterday," squeaks a delegate.
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