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Laboratoires Servier

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This article is about the pharmaceutical company. For other uses, see Servier (disambiguation).
Servier
Company typePrivate
IndustryPharmaceutical
Founded(1954; 70 years ago (1954))
FounderJacques Servier
Headquarters
Suresnes, Île-de-France
,
France
ProductsPharmaceuticals
Revenue€4.2 billion (FY 2018)
Number of employees
22,000
WebsiteOfficial website
Footnotes / references
[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drug originally developed for weight loss in people with diabetes but often prescribed off-label as a dieting aid, was withdrawn from the market after being linked to 500–2000 deaths in France.[10][11] Further investigations found that many previous safety alerts on that drug had been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.[11] 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

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Notable drink:

Red Bull

Coca-Cola

Notable products:

Other products:

Collaborative research

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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:

  • In Cardiology: XENTION (UK, 2013), AMGEN (USA, 2013), MIRAGEN (USA, 2011), ARMGO (USA, 2006)
  • In Diabetes: INTARCIA (USA, 2014)
  • In Metabolic diseases: INTERCEPT - TGR5 agonists (USA, 2011), Genfit (FR, 2004)
  • In Neurology (MS): GENEURO (CH, 2014)
  • In Oncology: CTI BIOPHARMA (USA, 2014), NOVARTIS (CH, 2014), CELLECTIS (FR, 2014), NERVIANO (IT, 2013), EOS (IT) / CLOVIS (USA, 2012), BIOINVENT (SE, 2012), MACROGENICS (USA, 2011/12), GALAPAGOS (NDL, 2011), BIOREALITES (FR, 2011), PHARMACYCLICS - HDAC inhibitor (USA, 2009), HYBRIGENICS (FR, 2007/2011) VERNALIS (UK, 2007/2011)
  • In Orphan Diseases/Cardiology/Diabetes: XOMA (USA, 2010)
  • In Osteoporosis & Osteoarthritis: OSTEOLOGIX (USA, 2010), GALAPAGOS (NDL, 2010), KAROS (USA, 2010), NORDIC BIOSCIENCE (DK, 2006/2010)

Servier acquired Symphogen in 2020.[18]

Controversy

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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]

References

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  1. ^ "Key figures". Servier. Archived from the original on 2014-10-09. Retrieved 2015-02-03.
  2. ^ "History". Servier. Archived from the original on 2017-08-05. Retrieved 2015-02-03.
  3. ^ "French drug maker Servier sets up US headquarters in Seaport". Boston Globe. May 9, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Servier launches U.S. cancer business with plans to double headcount in next 5 years". Boston Business Journal. May 9, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "SERVIER - Pharmaceutical company specialized in cardiology, diabetes, rheumatology, depression". Retrieved 2007-07-08.
  6. ^ "Servier and Galapagos complete enrollment of global ROCCELLA Phase 2 clinical trial with GLPG1972/S201086 in knee osteoarthritis". Bloomberg. June 11, 2019.
  7. ^ "Servier's US push takes shape as Boston HQ opens". BioPharma Dive. May 9, 2019.
  8. ^ "Servier UK - Key figures". Archived from the original on 2007-07-08. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
  9. ^ "The Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures - 2008 Edition". European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). p. 49. Archived from the original on 2008-09-16. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  10. ^ Article of the Figaro about Mediator
  11. ^ a b Un doute sur la «sécurité» du Mediator dès 1998 - Libération
  12. ^ "French pharma firm found guilty over medical scandal in which up to 2,000 died". TheGuardian.com. 29 March 2021.
  13. ^ "SERVIER - product portfolio". Archived from the original on 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
  14. ^ PR Servier Shire Oncology Acquisition 2018.08.31Archived 2019-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Mattes, William B. (2008). "Public Consortium Efforts in Toxicogenomics". In Mendrick, Donna L.; Mattes, William B. (eds.). Essential Concepts in Toxicogenomics. Methods in Molecular Biology. Vol. 460. pp. 221–238. doi:10.1007/978-1-60327-048-9_11. ISBN 978-1-58829-638-2. PMID 18449490.
  16. ^ "InnoMed PredTox Member Organizations". Archived from the original on 2008-09-26. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  17. ^ Innovative Medicines Initiative. "IMI Call Topics 2008". IMI-GB-018v2-24042008-CallTopics.pdf. European Commission. Archived from the original on 2009-10-15. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  18. ^ A/S, Symphogen (3 April 2020). "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 (Press release).
  19. ^ Samuel, Henry (2019-09-23). "Trial opens in France over weight loss drug that 'killed hundreds'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  20. ^ Nicolaus Vaux-Montagny, Francois Mori:Paris court convicts, fines pharma firm for deadly diet pill. Houston Chronicle (AP story), 29 March 2021
  21. ^ French company convicted of manslaughter over deadly diet pill. Al Jazeera English, 29 March 2021
  22. ^ Mediator drug: French pharmaceutical firm fined over weight loss pill. BBC, 29 March 2021
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