Sandoz CEO Warns Europe's Reliance on Chinese Antibiotics Poses Security Risk, Seeks Anti-Dumping Probe

Sandoz CEO Richard Saynor urged European governments to pay more for antibiotics, warning that Europe's growing dependence on Chinese suppliers threatens public health and defense. The Swiss generic-drug maker filed a complaint with the European Commission in May requesting an anti-dumping probe into Chinese imports of the active ingredient used in amoxicillin. Last year, 86% of EU imports of penicillins and their derivatives came from China, up from 44% in 2019, according to Eurostat. Sandoz operates the continent's only fully integrated antibiotic manufacturing facility, a €150 million ($168 million) plant in Kundl, Austria, and says it is the last penicillin manufacturer remaining in the Western world. Saynor argued the U.K.'s National Health Service pays just £1.06 ($1.41) for a 21-pack of 250mg amoxicillin capsules — less than a Mars bar. He said "market-distorting behavior" has let Chinese producers undercut competitors, and called for a level playing field. Sandoz, spun out of Novartis in 2023, aims to produce more than 100 biosimilar products by 2040, up from 13 currently, as patents on medicines worth a combined $650 billion expire over the next decade.