Laboratoires Servier Explained

Servier
Type:Private
Founder:Jacques Servier
Foundation:
Location City:Suresnes, Île-de-France
Location Country:France
Industry:Pharmaceutical
Products:Pharmaceuticals
Revenue:€4.2 billion (FY 2018)
Num Employees:22,000
Footnotes:[1] [2]

Servier Laboratories (French: Laboratoires Servier, often abbreviated to Servier) is an international pharmaceutical company governed by a non-profit foundation, with its headquarters in France (Suresnes).[3]

The consolidated turnover for the 2018 financial year was €4.2 billion.[4] Servier is the leading French independent pharmaceutical company, and the second largest French pharmaceutical company. It has branches in 149 countries, achieving 82% of its sales outside France.[5] [6] The company reportedly invests a little under 25% of its turnover in research and development, which occupies 3,000 of its 22,000 employees worldwide.[7] The company's production sites produced 853 million drug boxes in 2013.[5]

The Servier Clinical Support Unit in Gidy (near Orléans), which produces drugs for clinical trials, is the largest unit of its kind in Europe.[8] Servier Laboratories is a full member of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).[9]

In 2018, Servier finalized the acquisition of Shire’s oncology branch in Boston and named David K. Lee as CEO. The official opening of Servier's new U.S. headquarters took place in 2019.[4]

In 2009, Mediator, an amphetamine-based Servier drug originally developed for weight loss in people with diabetes but often prescribed off-label as a dieting aid, was withdrawn from the market after being linked to 500–2000 deaths in France.[10] [11] Further investigations found that many previous safety alerts on that drug had been either missed or covered up, possibly due to the improper influence of the well-connected company. On March 29, 2021, a French court fined Servier €2.7m (£2.3m) after finding it guilty of deception and manslaughter, with Mediator linked to the deaths of up to 2,000 people. The former executive Jean-Philippe Seta was sentenced to a suspended jail sentence of four years, while the elderly Jacques Servier had died and therefore could not be sentenced. The French medicines agency, accused of failing to act quickly enough on warnings about the drug, was fined €303,000. [12]

Product portfolio

Notable drink:

Red Bull

Coca-Cola

Notable products:

Other products:

Collaborative research

As well as internal research and development activities, Servier undertakes publicly funded collaborative research projects with industrial and academic partners. One example, in the area of non-clinical safety assessment, is the InnoMed PredTox.[15] [16] The company is expanding its activities in joint research projects within the framework of the Innovative Medicines Initiative of EFPIA and the European Commission.[17]

In addition to these, Servier engages in research and licensing collaborations across the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. These collaborations include:

Servier acquired Symphogen in 2020.[18]

Controversy

Servier Laboratories has been the subject of worldwide scandal for creating and distributing a weight-loss drug called Mediator (Benfluorex), which may have killed up to 2,100 people.[19]

The movie 150 Milligrams, by director Emmanuelle Bercot, features Dr. Irène Frachon discovering that Mediator pills cause heart valve problems/deaths and how in 2009 she starts an uphill battle against the producer and the French health authorities.

In March 2021, Servier was sentenced to a fine of 2.7 million euros for aggravated deception and involuntary manslaughter, however it was acquitted of fraud charges. The court also ordered the company to pay several hundred million euros in damages to the 6,500 plaintiffs, and one of its leading managers was sentenced to four years on probation. The French medical agency ANSM was fined 300,000 euros for failing proper supervision.[20] [21] [22]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Key figures . Servier . 2015-02-03 . 2014-10-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141009022333/http://www.servier.com/Key-Figures . dead .
  2. Web site: History . Servier . 2015-02-03 . 2017-08-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170805023547/http://www.servier.com/content/history . dead .
  3. Web site: French drug maker Servier sets up US headquarters in Seaport. May 9, 2019. Boston Globe.
  4. Web site: Servier launches U.S. cancer business with plans to double headcount in next 5 years. May 9, 2019. Boston Business Journal.
  5. Web site: SERVIER - Pharmaceutical company specialized in cardiology, diabetes, rheumatology, depression. 2007-07-08.
  6. Web site: Servier and Galapagos complete enrollment of global ROCCELLA Phase 2 clinical trial with GLPG1972/S201086 in knee osteoarthritis. June 11, 2019. Bloomberg.
  7. Web site: Servier's US push takes shape as Boston HQ opens. May 9, 2019. BioPharma Dive.
  8. Web site: Servier UK - Key figures . 2007-07-08 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070708070741/http://www.servier.co.uk/aboutus/figures.asp . 2007-07-08 .
  9. News: The Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures - 2008 Edition . European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) . 49 . 2008-08-25 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080916100937/http://www.efpia.eu/content/default.asp?PageID=559&DocID=4883 . 2008-09-16 .
  10. http://www.lefigaro.fr/sante/2010/10/13/01004-20101013ARTFIG00557-le-mediator-serait-responsable-de-500-a-1000-deces-en-france.php Article of the Figaro about Mediator
  11. http://www.liberation.fr/societe/01012310194-un-rapport-de-1998-alertait-deja-sur-le-mediator Un doute sur la «sécurité» du Mediator dès 1998 - Libération
  12. Web site: French pharma firm found guilty over medical scandal in which up to 2,000 died. TheGuardian.com. 29 March 2021.
  13. Web site: SERVIER - product portfolio . 2007-07-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070702101557/http://www.servier.com/groupe/portefeuille.asp . 2007-07-02 . dead .
  14. https://servier.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/PR-Servier-Shire-Oncology-Acquisition_2018.08.31.pdf PR Servier Shire Oncology Acquisition 2018.08.31
  15. Book: Mattes . William B.. Public Consortium Efforts in Toxicogenomics . 10.1007/978-1-60327-048-9_11 . Essential Concepts in Toxicogenomics. Mendrick . Donna L.. Mattes . William B.. Methods in Molecular Biology. 460 . 221–238 . 2008 . 978-1-58829-638-2 . 18449490 .
  16. Web site: InnoMed PredTox Member Organizations . 2008-08-25 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080926214522/http://www.innomed-predtox.com/consortium/members/ . 2008-09-26 .
  17. Web site: IMI Call Topics 2008. Innovative Medicines Initiative. IMI-GB-018v2-24042008-CallTopics.pdf . European Commission. 2008-08-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20091015122459/http://imi.europa.eu/docs/calls01_en.zip . 2009-10-15. dead.
  18. A/S . Symphogen . Servier signed a definitive agreement to acquire Symphogen, a leading antibody discovery company, to boost its antibody capabilities and leverage its R&D pipeline . GlobeNewswire News Room . 3 April 2020 .
  19. News: Samuel. Henry. Trial opens in France over weight loss drug that 'killed hundreds'. 2019-09-23. The Telegraph. 2020-04-03. en-GB. 0307-1235.
  20. Nicolaus Vaux-Montagny, Francois Mori:Paris court convicts, fines pharma firm for deadly diet pill. Houston Chronicle (AP story), 29 March 2021
  21. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/29/french-court-convicts-fines-pharma-firm-for-deadly-diet-pill French company convicted of manslaughter over deadly diet pill
  22. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56562909 Mediator drug: French pharmaceutical firm fined over weight loss pill

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