The coronavirus crisis revealed a weakness in France, and more generally in Europe, too dependent on foreigners. 80% of the production of active substances used in medicines is produced outside the European Union, mainly in China and India. 

The French government wants to find ways to reduce this dependence. During his trip to the Sanofi site in Marcy-l'Etoile, which has one of the largest vaccine factories in Europe, Emmanuel Macron must unveil this Tuesday an "initiative" to finance research and development of vaccines in France, as well as strengthening production capacities, according to the Elysée.

>> Read also: "The Covid-19 pushes France to relocate its pharmaceutical industry"

This official move comes almost a month after the controversy around the pharmaceutical giant, when Paul Hudson, the director general of Sanofi had declared considering considering distributing his vaccines for Covid-19 as a priority in the United States, and not in France.

Emmanuel Macron also wants certain vaccines, such as the one against Covid-19, to become "global public goods", just like water or air. An economic concept developed in the 1990s and dear to the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, Joseph Stiglitz. But this will require convincing large pharmaceutical companies, but also a number of countries, including probably the United States, which will not be easy, especially when you know the cost and investment in research pharmaceutical...

>> To see, the Debate: "Vaccine against Covid-19, can we trust the labs?"

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