Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Paul Hudson: Thank you, Thomas. Next question?

Operator: Yes. Next question will be from Peter Welford from Jefferies. Peter?

Peter Welford: So firstly, just on the Consumer Health. I mean, I think it’s sort of the obvious question, if you’d like, and obviously, you’ve now got a fully loaded P&L and certainly, the use, I guess, by Julie of the words sort of road map forward. I guess, have you got sort of any update or thinking on your thoughts with regards to how much longer you think this business should remain within Sanofi? And perhaps more importantly, what are the gating factors for that decision? I’m thinking, in particular, the Rx-OTC global switches, perhaps you update on those? And is potentially getting clarity and a clear path to time line for those a gating factor before we can potentially have a decision potentially on the future of consumer within Sanofi?

And then secondly, again, just strategically on the decision to combine Pharma and Vaccines into Biopharma. I guess, curious, I understand sort of what you said, but I wondered if you could provide a bit more color on why now, I guess, for that. I mean vaccines, obviously, in Sanofi is a key sort of franchise and arguably it gets perhaps better appreciated the value of it and the longevity of it, if it’s a standalone. So I guess combining it within the unit, does this coincide with nirsevimab Beyfortus launch, is that sort of cross over, or how should we think about the decision to do that at this point in time? Thank you.

Paul Hudson: Okay. Peter, thank you. I’ll make a — well, I’ll make some comments, and then Thomas or John, if you want to jump in. On Pharma and Vaccine combination, I mean some of the platforms are coming together, mRNA, biologics, as you pointed out. It’s a decision already taken. It started, and the work has been going on for some time in terms of converging platforms, shared services, could be engineering, could be many things. We’re just already underway. And of course, the modular nature of the three cutting-edge facilities we’re building mean that we can move between antibodies and vaccines depending. So, it’s a sort of future stake. We’re getting organized now. We think it’s more appropriate to do that. And it will probably free up some synergies and opportunities for productivity gains. So, sort of common sense for us. Want to add anything you guys?

Thomas Triomphe: I would just say for me, it’s basically smart resource allocation, which actually increases the ability to develop, launch and distribute first-in-class, best-in-class asset moving forward.

Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon: And it’s already enabled us to achieve some capital allocation improvements. So, it’s already paying dividends. Yes.

Paul Hudson: Okay. Good. Thank you. As for other question, it’s interesting that the turnaround in Consumer has been a real joy to watch. And frankly, we wanted to stand it up completely on its own, so you could make the comparison. I think you know better than perhaps even I do, inside a company, we don’t always benefit from the multiples and things associated with it. So, we would like people to understand what a great Consumer business that we have and we’re very proud of it, and it’s really moving at high speed. It, of course, adds a little bit of tension for the consumer team. Now they’re properly benchmark. Now they have to raise their game, too, to make sure they compete with all other absolutely like-for-like consumer businesses.

And I think that’s healthy. As for choices, well, we declared in 2019, we just wanted to grow faster than the market. And while we’re growing faster than the market, we’re in great shape. We’ve never communicated anything other than that. Next question?

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