At the Roussillon site, the development of the future paracetamol production unit is progressing steadily.

At the Roussillon site, the development of the future paracetamol production unit has reached a new, decisive milestone.

The Covid-19 crisis highlighted Europe’s strategic dependence on the supply of paracetamol, an essential analgesic and antipyretic used on a daily basis. In response to this public health sovereignty challenge, the French government announced in June 2020 the launch of an ambitious project to relocate paracetamol production to France, during a press conference held at one of the SEQENS industrial sites.

Led by our teams, this project is supported by the France 2030 program and carried out in partnership with UPSA and Opella. It represents a structuring initiative to secure the production of critical active pharmaceutical ingredients and demonstrates SEQENS’ commitment to strengthening French and European industrial capabilities.

After more than a year of research and development, the R&D teams at our research and development center in Porcheville, near Paris, designed an innovative and more environmentally friendly manufacturing process based on continuous-flow chemistry. This patented technology was validated through several pilot phases before construction of the future production unit began in early 2023 at the Roussillon site.

This innovation will enable a significant reduction in the environmental footprint of paracetamol produced by SEQENS:

• energy consumption divided by four,
• 95% less waste,
• a 90% reduction in CO₂ emissions (Scopes 1&2) and 40% (Scopes 1,2 and 3)

Construction work, which began in early 2023, is now nearing completion. From the end of 2026, the new industrial unit will be capable of producing up to 15,000 tons of paracetamol per year, representing nearly half of European market demand.