Detalhe

INAUGURATION OF THE NEW SITE

 

WITH THE INAUGURATION OF ITS NEW SITE, STALLERGENES CONTINUES ITS DEVELOPMENT AND CREATES VALUE IN FRANCE

 

Antony (France), 24 May 2011 - Stallergenes S.A. announces the inauguration of its new administrative headquarters, located in Antony in the Hauts-de-Seine (92) area of France.

Following the official opening of its grass pollen production site in Amilly (Loiret) in January, Stallergenes today inaugurated its new administrative headquarters in a ceremony attended by Patrick Devedjian, Member of Parliament and President of the Hauts-de-Seine Council, and Dr. Isao Teshirogi, President and CEO of Shionogi & Co., Ltd, Stallergenes’ strategic ally in Japan, and President of the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (JPMA). 

Initiated in 2009 and designed to meet the highest QE/BBC¹environmental standards, this new section of the company’s head office, which will provide office space for an additional 200 employees, is intended specifically for administrative personnel and will enable the company to increase the space available for Research & Development.

Enjoying average annual growth of 14% – compared to 5% for the sector –, Stallergenes has quadrupled in size in the last 10 years and is now the 7^th largest pharmaceutical company in France. The company has invested the fruits of this vigorous growth in both Research & Development of new products – with a cumulative investment since 2004 of 170 million euros – and its new industrial facilities – 30 million euros invested –. Stallergenes devotes around 20% of its annual turnover to Research & Development, amounting to 41 million euros in 2010, making it one of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in France in terms of investment.

Between 2001 and 2011, the number of employees within the Group has risen from 400 to 1,000, and from 300 to 750 in Antony. In 2010 alone, the Group’s workforce grew by 12%, half of whom are top-level staff (at least 5 years of higher education).

“Our strong growth has allowed Stallergenes to pursue a business model based on innovation. Stallergenes’ shareholders have supported this model, in which profits are largely reinvested in the company. As an illustration of our expansion, our Antony site, which houses all our decision-making structures, has grown significantly in just a few years, with the continuous support of the town of Antony and the Hauts-de-Seine Council”,  said Albert Saporta, Chairman and CEO of Stallergenes.

With direct operations in 10 countries, soon to be supplemented by the opening of 5 new subsidiaries, Stallergenes now conducts around 85% of its business in Europe. In parallel, the company signed an exclusive partnership agreement in September 2010 with Shionogi & Co. Ltd., one of the major pharmaceutical companies in Japan, for the development and marketing of two sublingual allergen immunotherapy tablets resulting from the Stalair^® program: Actair^® house dust mite tablets and Japanese cedar pollen tablets. “We are delighted to have found in Stallergenes a strategic partner with whom we can strengthen our position in the allergy market in Japan”, stated Isao Teshirogi, President and CEO of Shionogi & Co., Ltd.

“Stallergenes is proof that it is possible to succeed in France by combining innovation and industry. Our role is to create the conditions for this performance," said Patrick Devedjian, Member of Parliament and President of the Hauts-de-Seine Council.

ABOUT stalair^®

Stalair^® is a pharmaceutical and clinical development program for sublingual immunotherapy tablets being executed by Stallergenes with a view to obtaining marketing authorization for pharmaceutical products in Europe and other strategic markets.

The program, launched in 2003 and fitting squarely with the directives issued in 2009 by the EMA², brings immunotherapy tablets the same level of recognition as conventional pharmaceutical products.

Oralair^® is the first product resulting from this program. A Mutual Recognition Procedure has been successfully completed in Europe. Marketed in Germany since 2008, it has recently been launched in the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Italy and Spain. It is currently being evaluated in other countries.

The second project in the program is the house dust mite immunotherapy tablet, Actair^®. Having demonstrated the efficacy of Actair^® after 4 months of treatment and the persistence of its therapeutic effect after only one year of treatment (study VO57.07 conducted in Europe), Stallergenes is now conducting a phase III study in children. Following consultations with the PEI³, Stallergenes will file a registration application for Actair^® with the German health authorities in 2011. Stallergenes plans to market Actair^® in Germany at the end of 2012 and in the rest of Europe thereafter.

The Stalair^® rBet v 1 tablet (recombinant birch pollen allergen) was the subject of a positive phase IIb/III clinical trial conducted in allergic rhinitis caused by birch pollen. Additional studies are required. Immunotherapy tablets for allergy to ragweed pollen (aimed primarily at the US market) and Japanese cedar pollen (aimed primarily at the Japanese market) are at an early stage of development. 

Altogether, the Stalair^® program covers 80% of the epidemiology in all markets.

  

ABOUT STALLERGENES

Stallergenes is a European biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the treatment of allergy-related respiratory diseases, such as severe rhinoconjunctivitis and rhinitis, as well as allergic asthma, using allergen immunotherapy. The seventh largest pharmaceutical company in France and the leader in sublingual immunotherapy treatment, Stallergenes devotes almost 20% of its gross turnover to Research & Development and is actively involved in the development of a new therapeutic class, sublingual immunotherapy tablets. In 2010, the company had a turnover of 216 million euros, and more than 500,000 patients were treated with Stallergenes products.

Euronext Paris (Compartment B)

SBF 120.

ISIN code: FR0000065674

Reuters code: GEN.PA

Bloomberg code: GEN.FP

 

Additional information is available at: http://www.stallergenes.com