GlobAl pharma company Sanofi Australia has welcomed pharmacists from all over the world with a tour of its $45 million facility in Virginia, Brisbane. Sanofi’s Chief Science Officer Dr Josephine Fubara (pictured left) said pharmacists saw demonstrated advanced manufacturing expertise and quality assurance procedures. “Sustainability, quality, and innovation are key factors to our work, and pharmacists could see our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility so that they can witness firsthand the future of sustainable healthcare at Sanofi,” Fubara said. Visitors saw the installation of more than 1,500 solar panels spanning the large rooftop of the Brisbane manufacturing campus, which saves approximately 720 tonnes of CO2 and delivers 1GwH of electricity to the site per year. In 2021, the business announced the move to a hybrid car fleet; Jun 22 saw the launch of an industry partnership with Return Unwanted Medicines; and earlier this month took joint steps with TerryWhite Chemmart to promote the Return of Unwanted Medicines (RUM) program (PD 13 Sep). Sanofi’s Consumer General Manager Gladys Ambrosio Peters said the business has invested over $40m into its local manufacturing in recent years to accommodate increased demand. “This investment has allowed us to produce over 18.4 million tablets per year,” Peters said.

“To keep pace with the booming local and international demand, we have continued to invest, to ensure we stay at the forefront of Australian new product development and manufacturing.” With a dedicated team of over 200 people in development, testing, manufacturing, and packing, Sanofi’s Virginia plant is also home to one of Sanofi’s three global innovation hubs, a partnership with local universities and the gov’t. JG