Hello, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine, thank you, especially since the middle of the week is upon us. After all, we have made it this far, so we are determined to hang on for another couple of days. And why not? The alternatives — at least those we can identify — are not so appetizing. And what better way to make the time fly than to keep busy. So grab that cup of stimulation and get started. Our flavor today is Irish cream, for those tracking our habits. Now, though, the time has come to get busy. So please grab your own cup and dig in to the items of interest assembled below. We hope you have a wonderful day, and please do keep in touch. Our settings allow us to accept postcards and telegrams. …
French unions have called on workers at Sanofi to strike starting on Thursday to protest a planned sale of the company’s consumer health arm to a U.S. investor, Reuters tells us. “The strike will start at 5 o’clock (CET), when people start their shifts, and cover the whole of France,” CGT union representative Fabien Mallet told Reuters, adding that the call was made jointly by the CGT and CFDT organizations, the two largest unions at Sanofi. Although Sanofi has since long flagged its plan to sell a controlling stake in the unit, known for producing Doliprane painkillers present in millions of French households, the dossier has developed into a tense political issue. Critics of the deal say the French company would give away the control of strategic production assets despite pledges made by the government during the Covid-19 pandemic to restore self-sufficiency in the field of medical equipment and drugs. They also fear Sanofi’s decision to sell a controlling 50% stake in Opella to U.S. private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice could lead to massive job cuts.
The U.K. will study whether the use of Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug can get people back into work and help tackle the high rate of long-term sickness that has become a major drag on the economy, Reuters explains. Health minister Wes Streeting predicted the use of the drug — a competitor to Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic — could help transform the health of the nation, after Lilly announced a $365.4 million investment in the country as part of a flagship summit hosted by Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The deal included “a major real-world study” on the effectiveness of tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro in the U.K., which could reduce the burden on the state-run National Health Service. The University of Manchester will coordinate the study, which will have up to 3,000 participants, and collect data on “health-related quality of life and changes in participants’ employment status and sick days from work.” Earlier this month, England’s National Health Service outlined a plan to give the drug to nearly a quarter of a million people as part of a three-year plan.
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