France could block sale of 'best-selling' drug if production doesn't stay local

Boxes of Doliprane, a popular painkiller, in a pharmacy in Paris. The French government and politicians from all across the political spectrum have raised concerns about Sanofi's bid to sell a controlling share of the subsidiary that makes the drug to a US private equity firm. © Benoit Tessier/Reuters

France’s Economy Minister has warned that the government could block the sale of a subsidiary of the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi to a US private equity firm if it cannot guarantee that its production of paracetamol, under the name Doliprane, remains in France.

"I want to be extremely clear: we will demand extremely precise, strong and tangible conditions," Economy Minister Antoine Armand told journalists Monday during a visit to a Doliprane production site in Normandy after Sanofi announced was negotiating to sell its consumer health branch, Opella.