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French drugmaker Sanofi will make 30 of its treatments, including insulin, available on a not-for-profit basis in 40 lower-income countries in the first step of its plan to increase access to its medicines worldwide. The treatments will be provided under the new Impact brand, part of Sanofi's global health unit launched last year, which sits outside the commercial business. The plan also includes the $25 million Impact fund, which will go towards supporting local start-up healthcare businesses and providing training on using the medicines, Sanofi said. "There's a lot of noise at the moment from different companies jumping into this space… but investing in entrepreneurship, in the ecosystem, is a new thing," said Jon Fairest, who heads the global health unit. The treatments available are on the World Health Organization's essential medicines list, and insulin in particular has been singled out by the UN agency as a life-saving medicine for diabetics that is difficult to access in many lower-income countries, where the burden of disease is growing.

Thornton & Ross is all set to expand its consumer healthcare offering by acquiring the well-established Opticrom eye-drops brand from Sanofi in the UK. Opticrom forms part of a wider transaction between Thornton & Ross' parent group, STADA, and Sanofi for eight local consumer healthcare brands across several countries, including Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Spain and the UK. The transaction will be financed with a combination of cash on balance sheet and existing facilities, and is scheduled to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to customary approvals of relevant regulatory authorities. Opticrom Allergy 10ml bottle and 20 single doses for itchy, watery, red and inflamed eyes can be found behind the pharmacy counter, while Opticrom Hayfever 10ml bottle is available to purchase via self-selection to soothe and relieve eye symptoms of hayfever. These non-prescription medicines contain 20 mg/1ml sodium cromoglicate (2.0% w/v) and offer relief within 2 minutes.

Shares in GSK, Sanofi and Haleon fell sharply on Thursday (August 11) amid growing investor concerns about US litigation focused on a heartburn drug that contained a probable carcinogen, while Johnson and Johnson has decided to end sales of talcum powder after cancer claims. GSK shares were down 6.8 per cent, Sanofi's were down 6.9 per cent and Haleon's down per cent. GSK and Sanofi at various points sold the drug - originally branded as Zantac - which US regulators ordered off the market in 2020. Haleon, spun out as an independent listed company last month, comprises consumer health assets once partly owned by GSK. The prospect of impending litigation is not new. Among other disclosures, recently-listed Haleon had highlighted the risk of such lawsuits in its prospectus. The topic has arrived in investor consciousness in recent days it seems, but has been rumbling on in the background for a few years, Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a note.