FIVE MINUTES WITH... HUGO FRY
Great institutions remain great institutions – medical research in Oxford or Cambridge is not going to fall by the wayside overnight because of Brexit, as good science always attracts good science funding. The UK will remain at the forefront of that innovation
once the UK leaves the European Union.
government, so my message to Theresa May would therefore
At the heart of this is the European Medicine Agency [a European Union agency, located in London, that is responsible
be to think hard about how to foster the entire ecosystem – not just one part of it.
for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety for the evaluation of medicines], in which the UK currently plays a big
Sanofi has been a member of the French Chamber for 25
role. As a country, the UK accounts for around one-third of
years. What is the benefit?
the EMA’s work, getting new drugs approved. So for the sake
Being a member of the French Chamber is a great opportunity
of patients across Europe, I hope we can reach a conclusion
for businesses to access a wonderful network of companies
where innovation will not be slowed down. Patients must have
that all have something in common. To be plugged into that
access to innovative medicines just as quickly as before.
network is really important to us, as it also gives us access to
We have a strong position on this: we would like ties with the EMA to remain as tight as possible. And we are actively
fabulous events, such as the Gala Dinner with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, which we are looking forward to. I
discussing it with the authorities – Jeremy Hunt, the UK Health Minister and Simon Stevens, the CEO of NHS England, have been on a ‘road show’ of the nation’s top pharmaceutical companies to sound us out and hear our positions. Scientific research could also suffer as EU funding gets cut. Is this a worry? I am fairly optimistic about this. My view is that great institutions remain great institutions – medical research in Oxford or Cambridge is not going to fall by the wayside overnight because of Brexit, as good science always attracts good funding. The UK will remain at the forefront of that innovation. However, we do need to ensure that the full ecosystem remains supported. This means the research that feeds the start-ups, the start-ups that feed biotech firms, and the biotech firms which feed big pharma. This requires a friendly
SANOFI FACTS AND FIGURES • Global employees: >110,000 in 100 countries
• UK employees: >1,800
• Global revenue: €37bn in FY2015
• UK revenue: £553.5m in FY2015
• 280 programmes worldwide
• 14 per cent of sales invested in R&D
info
- march / april 2017 - 9