FRANKFURT (Reuters) – French drugmaker Sanofi (NASDAQ:) is close to deciding to invest between EUR 1.3 billion and EUR 1.5 billion ($1.4-1.6 billion) in a huge production plant in Frankfurt, Germany, where Lantus brand insulin is produced, the Handelsblatt daily reported on Monday.
The article quoted German government sources as saying that Sanofi had changed course after initially considering moving Lantus production to France, and the company was now close to committing to modernizing its German plant in Frankfurt’s Hoechst district.
Sanofi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Among recent victories by Germany’s ruling coalition to attract investment in healthcare, Daiichi Sankyo said in February it would spend about 1 billion euros to boost work on precision cancer drugs near Munich.
US drugmaker Eli Lilly (NYSE:) in November last year pledged to invest €2.3 billion in the production of obesity and diabetes drugs in Germany.
(1 dollar = 0.9299 euros)
