The moment I realized I was a volunteer is when I arrived in Paris to the Charles de Gaulle Airport. At that moment, it hits you that you're really involved in the games.
The first day when I got up, I felt like it was the first day of school and just all the butterflies. The moment it felt more real to me was when I actually put on the uniform to go to my mission.
When you are with your real uniform, it doesn't matter from where you're from.
We have a community together. There's kind of an unspoken bond.
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My experience at the Olympics has been phenomenal. I just, like, mentally transport myself back to this arena. Every time, it'll just remind me that I can keep pushing harder.
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I have seen so much determination and the will to succeed in life. I will feel like I can overcome a lot more things than I think myself.
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It's just one word at the moment.
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I talk to my kids quite frequently, and I keep telling them, "Follow your dreams. Go out there, explore the world." I'm doing it now. I wish I had been doing it all along.
Sports is about performance, about ambition, about pushing your borders. This is exactly what we are doing in bringing innovations to our patients.
I'm a long-distance runner. It's the same in science and in sports. You have to try, and you have to keep yourself better again and again.
These three days, they just bring us closer together as Sanofi and one family working together.
I got a chance to meet a lot of people outside of my function.
Meeting our coworkers around the world is so valuable.
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One thing I will bring back is the ambition that Sanofi has.
You need ambition, and you need the substance behind it, the science. The exhibition showed me that Sanofi has both of it.
It was very clear how we are becoming leader in immunology. We saw our pipeline, but also how we are coming there. We are becoming all in in artificial intelligence.
It's put me into a new way to look at Sanofi. We not only just focus on science, but also care about our people, our employees, and our patients.
What's really amazing is it shows how Sanofi wants to be part of the world, not only just giving medicine, but also being part of a change for the better.
We transformed as a company. That's a given, and we're in the right direction.
It's a kind of ignition which has given me a new spark to do something more, better.
I want to share what is going on and how we can build something bigger for the company.
I do believe in the miracle of science, and I think that we show how miracles can be true.
Energizing.
Meeting new people.
One Sanofi.
Collaboration and inspiration.
The whole group, et le partage.
Connection.
Life-changing.
Mesmerizing.
Great, and let's do it again.
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Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, hello. Thank you for being here for this combined general meeting, even though it's very sunny out there. We're sorry for being a bit late, but of course, we wanted everybody to have time enough to be seated. The annual combined general meeting of Sanofi is starting right now. I'd like to thank all the shareholders who voted remotely before the general meeting, and all those who are currently following us live. The recordings will still be available for those who want to watch the video later on. Paul Hudson, to my side, is the CEO, and Jeanne Kehren, the Secretary of the Board. We also have present and speaking at the lectern, François-Xavier Roger, CFO, who will be talking you through the Sanofi financial performance for 2024.
Audrey Duval, Vice President of Corporate Affairs, who will be talking us through the main achievements of Sanofi. Maïté Durrenbach , Head of Global Quality, will be talking about modernizing the manufacturing and supply tool at Sanofi. Patrick Kron, Head of the Compensation Policy, who will be talking us through the salient items of our compensation policy. Now, we will proceed with appointment of officers for the Bureau. Jeanne Kehren will be the Secretary of our meeting. L'Oréal, represented by Mr. Alexandre Menais, and company Amundi, represented by Mrs. Floriane Rigourd , plus two shareholders having the highest number of votes to be our tellers. They accepted this job, and I'd like to thank them for this. The Statutory Auditors are with us, Madame Anne-Claire Ferrié from PricewaterhouseCoopers, representing the Statutory Auditors and will be presenting their reports.
Maître Éric Nielet-Beilef is also present with us today. Everything is videoed, and everything is visible live on our company website. The recordings and the video will still be accessible once the meeting is over. Now, I'll hand over to Jeanne Kehren, who's going to tell us more about this meeting.
Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Shareholders have signed the attendance sheet at the entrance, both in their own name and as proxies. According to this attendance sheet, the shareholders present or represented represent more than a quarter of the shares with voting rights. Together, they own together 927.41 shares, i.e., 76.04% of shares with voting rights. Consequently, and although the quorum is not yet final, it is clear from the attendance sheet that the meeting duly constituted can validly deliberate.
The following documents are deposited on the desk: the company's bylaws, a copy of the notice of meeting sent to registered shareholders, copies and acknowledgment of receipt of registered letters sent to the auditors, a copy of the Bulletin des Annonces Légales Obligatoires dated March 14, 2025, containing the notice of meeting, a copy of the Journal d'Annonces Légales published on Actujuridique.fr, and of the Bulletin des Annonces Légales Obligatoires dated April 9, 2025, containing the notice of meeting, the auditor's reports, the attendance sheet of the meeting, the powers of shareholders represented, as well as all documents required by law, which were made available to shareholders at the registered office within legal deadlines and sent to those who requested them. The agenda is shown on pages eight and nine of the French version of the notice of meeting.
Detailed explanations of the resolutions can be found in the Board of Directors' report, pages 10 and following of the corporate brochure, which you can find on our website. No draft resolution nor agenda items have been tabled by shareholders. Finally, you have received either from Uptevia or from your financial intermediary all documents required by law and related to this meeting. I now give the floor back to the Chairman.
Ladies and gentlemen, in a couple of minutes, I'll be talking you through the key features related to governance of your company and the resolutions submitted for your approval. Please allow me to start with strategic considerations. The group's activity took place in 2024 in a geopolitical and economic context that was tense, with many crises and conflicts that have not been solved so far, for instance, those in Ukraine and in the Middle East. 2025 does not look any better, with many uncertainties and volatility relating to the tariff policies in the United States. This is my second meeting being chairing the Board of Directors, and last year, we commented on the strategic decisions made in autumn 2023. It is to shape the future of the group, some of which might have surprised the markets first in the field of R&D.
Unfortunately, what we saw was the failure of many of our projects in the field of oncology, and we had decided to focus on immunology, rare diseases, and vaccines being the territories for innovation in the years to come. The confidence in the potential of our new medicines pipeline had led us to step up our R&D budget by EUR 1 billion annually. Therefore, we decided to give up on a financial guidance which in 2019 had been drafted for 2025. Thirdly, in parallel, we had said we would consider deeply transforming the industrial tool. We said we wanted to adopt digital technologies covering the whole value chain and to gain operational efficiency gains to the tune of EUR 2 billion annually to finance our investment efforts.
Finally, at the time, we said we wanted to finish the carve-out of our consumer healthcare business, known nowadays as Opella, with an ambitious series of deadlines for the rollout. A year down the road, these significant decisions, I think, are better understood by all the stakeholders. This includes you, the shareholders. 2024 was a very intense vintage during which we've progressed on many of our work streams, as you will see in the different presentations. Of course, 2024 was a year when we saw a number of milestones that we managed to go through, that is, in terms of the autonomy of our Opella subsidiary and the choice we made to choose CD&R as a partner. This led to some emotions expressed by some French politicians, but I believe that we managed to provide all the guarantees to all the stakeholders.
I'm convinced that we chose the best option for the company. That is, we decided to stick to a decision-making process and governance process that are quite strict. In addition, as you know, we wanted to remain a significant shareholder in the new company, which is a sign of our confidence in its development. You might have noted as well that as we speak, a bit after 1:00 P.M. Paris time, we have just announced the closing for this transaction. I would like to thank all of our teams, all the employees who've been working on this demanding and complex initiative, which has been rolled out on the basis of a timeline which is quite relevant given the current environment. I think we can put our hands together for our teams.
Apart from this, if I may, I would like to remind our strategic course and the main challenges today. Your Board is clear-headed. We know that nothing should be taken for granted. We have to remain humble because the world in which we operate is crammed with uncertainties. The geopolitical situation, of course, has impacts on the pharma industry. There are more economic stresses, and with sluggish growth, there are new requests for the armed forces that are unprecedented, plus a high level of public debt. The recent events in the recent weeks illustrate the high level of uncertainty in which companies have to operate. The decisions made by the American administration and their changing nature are such that there are uncertainties and major disruptions that might harm our companies, the pharma groups, but also the biotechs.
The long cycles we have in our industry in terms of R&D and investments do not go well with these uncertainties. Conscious of this, the general management and your Board are always trying to set the long-term objectives so that Sanofi is successful in the long run. It is a European company, but with a global reach despite the headwinds. Your Board has a number of strong beliefs. We have seen growing needs in the field of health and care, and in the future, we will see that public finance will be even more under pressure in many developed countries. The stress upon pharma groups is growing, and a number of measures are taken in the United States and in Europe.
The EU in 2024 came up with a series of provisions, the objective of which is to condition the length of patent exclusivity for medicines on the basis of their innovative nature and their value added. This is a trend which is such that we need to strongly stand out so that we impose ourselves on the payers, the private ones and the institutional ones. This is the case on all markets, American, European, or Chinese markets. Therefore, more than ever in our industry, we need to take this risk of innovation. We have to prove that there's tangible value added for the patients, but also for the health systems. According to us, this is the safest way so that we stick to the long run and remain an essential player in our industry. The economic context is changing quickly.
This has defined new rules for our value chain. We need to develop our strategic thinking that meets the new deal in terms of internal and external innovation, but also in terms of allocation of our production and sales model or selling model, marketing model. This goes beyond growth. We need to factor in resilience. We need to be more efficient in the light of these changes so that our business is robust in the long run. We will be looking for more economic efficiency in our business model, and this is part and parcel of the development of a resilient and sustainable group. Therefore, in a world that's more disconcerting and fragmented than ever, we have to continue and have to have the will to continue and roll out all of our work streams.
In the wake of 2024 that was dynamic, we told the markets that the outlook was good in 2025. Yet we're aware that what is really important is to get positive results from all the trials that we expect in 2025 and 2026. These will show directly the credibility of our pipeline of new innovative medicines that will replace Dupixent as a growth driver when the exclusivity comes to an end in 2031. As new products are developed and progress, and they're close to their marketing time, we have to prepare the group for the future launches, and we have to make sure we have all the capabilities so that these innovations at last can be used by the patients and so that we can have the proceeds of them.
Apart from these strategic and financial considerations, what we're doing progressively is that we're focusing more on our culture and values, and we've highlighted the efficiency of our group and the frugality of our group so that Sanofi can adapt to a more demanding world in terms of the price of medicines. I'd like to finish by thanking Paul Hudson and General Management for the energy they've deployed on all of these group initiatives because this transformation is demanding. I'd like to thank all of the Sanofi teams and employees whom I met, and I was always impressed by their strength and engagement. I saw how motivated they were before when they worked on discoveries that changed the lives of many patients. I saw that they were very stubborn because they wanted these discoveries to be available to our patients.
In 2024, they were in a position to show that they are highly flexible and can adapt, which is what they did in the past quarters when transformation was really intense. Now, back to governance and the functioning of the group. This has been a demanding year for the Board, but also for the Sanofi teams, and as I said, for the Board. We had no fewer than 14 meetings of the Board this year. I'd like to thank all the directors because they've always been committed. The attendance rate is exemplary. I'd like to say that also we traveled in China at the beginning of December so that we would gauge the Chinese market, its development, its amazing development, and the development of local innovation.
Also, I'd like to emphasize the fact that we spent a week in Boston at the beginning of March to try and anticipate, as best as we could, the political and economic changes to come and their impacts on the American market. Of course, your Board has held many meetings, and also we've decided to bolster our training program. External evaluation of the Board has been very positive and will continue in 2025 and support Paul Hudson, our CEO, and the executive team so as to strategically steer our company. Let us say a few words about who's on the Board. Now, by and large, what we're doing is what we've always done with some changes. What matters is continuity. So you will have to be voting on the renewal of terms of offices of Barbara Lavernos, Carole Ferrand, Émile Voest , and Antoine Yver .
Because what we want is a stable Board and the development of our work as a team. Now, as far as the changes are concerned, first, we've received the resignation at the end of 2024 of Gilles Schnepp, the head of the Governance and Appointments Committee. Gilles Schnepp considered that in the future he couldn't play his fully fledged role as a Director as far as the development of Opella was concerned because he was a senior advisor at CD&R. He had already stepped back from the decision-making process as early as 2024. The Board has appointed Patrick Kron to replace him as a Chair of the nominations or appointments committee, and he will hand over to Clotilde Delbos at the end of our general meeting. Of course, I would like to thank very warmly Gilles Schnepp for his contribution and for his support when I took my position.
Now, to replace Gilles Schnepp as a Director, we have co-opted Jean-Paul Kress. In the pharma business, he has a lot of experience in large companies and biotechs, and this will help us strengthen the expertise that we have in the pharma area. Jean-Paul Kress joined the scientific and strategic committees, and you will have to ratify this formally as to the end of Gilles Schnepp's mandate. That is, end of 2026. Jean-Paul Kress is with us. He will introduce himself very quickly. Jean-Paul, the floor is yours.
Thank you, dear Frédéric. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders. I'm very happy, and it's an honor for me. I'll tell you what I've done so far. I have a medical and scientific background, and that's why I'm very engaged in health and therapeutical innovation.
I've been working for more than 30 years in this industry in large pharma groups, AbbVie, Gilead, Sanofi as well, and also as the head of some biotechs. Therefore, I developed specific skills also about America, their pharma business, and those who invest in healthcare. What is important is to be three key principles. First, a clear strategy that serves value creation for all the stakeholders. I'd like to mention MorphoSys. I was the CEO for five years of MorphoSys, and I headed a major transformation from a technological platform to a pharma company that's fully integrated, thanks to which the company was acquired by Novartis in 2024 to the tune of $3 billion, and the premium was 100%.
The second principle is that we need to execute flawlessly to serve the strategy of the group in terms of making progress with the pipeline, which is very important in our industry, and also in the field of good and disciplined allocation of capital and efficient and responsible governance. The third pillar, and Frédéric mentioned that, is to make sure that patients are at the core of everything we do when we brainstorm, when we act for lasting and responsible innovation in our companies. There we are. I hope that now you know a bit more about me and my beliefs. Thank you very much for your attention.
I'd like to thank you as well for your confidence. Thank you very much, Jean-Paul. Finally, a few words about our board. Fabienne Lecorvaisier's mandate or term of office will not be renewed.
She's reached the limit, which was 12 years, connected to the notion of an independent director. I would like to pay a special tribute to Fabienne Lecorvaisier and what she did when she was heading the Audit Committee. Thank you, Fabienne. We had anticipated her departure. She will not be replaced. The Board will therefore now have a total of 16 directors. I'd like to thank also Yann Tran, one of our two directors representing employees. He'll be replaced by Humberto de Sousa when the meeting is over. Now, as to the functioning of the Board is concerned and the performance of the Board are concerned, these were evaluated by external stakeholders. Thus, we've measured the progress that we've made and also the robustness of our modus operandi.
The Board has also identified expected progress and things we have to pay special vigilance to in 2025, including maintained attention to the progress of our R&D transformation and its impact. This, of course, includes the monitoring of clinical trials for our pipeline of medicines. Number two, special attention and support to our acquisition strategies. These acquisitions will beef up the existing portfolio and will be able to invest in medicines with strong potential at early stages of development. Number three, we will supervise the strategy and we look at the impact of the use of data and AI. Number four, we will monitor the operating and industrial transformation projects. Finally, last but not least, the succession plans that we will review and management of talents. The years to come will still be demanding years.
There will be political and economic upheavals, yet we have to stick to our course. That is, the main transformations that we need to conduct. We have to continue with a strong will. We have to have a high sense of responsibilities whilst respecting our values to carry out these changes. Here again, I would like to thank Paul Hudson, our CEO, plus the members of the executive committee, all the teams and employees of the group for all the work they have done and the work still to be done. I would like to thank you as well, you the shareholders. Thank you for your trust and your support. Without further ado, I will now hand ove r to Paul, and I would like to thank you for your attention. Paul, the floor is yours.
[Foreign language] Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
I am delighted to be here for my sixth general shareholders meeting, and I can assure you that I'm just as honored today as I was the first time. When I joined Sanofi in 2019, we started on a bold and transformative journey, one of the most important in the history of Sanofi, with an ambition to become a modern healthcare company. Today, standing before you, I am extremely proud of the progress that we have achieved. To get there, we had to make brave choices to help patients and the patients and communities that we serve as best we can and to ensure the long-term growth of our company. Every decision that we made was guided by our reason for being, pursuing the miracles of science to improve people's lives. We met our commitments thanks to the unwavering dedication and the remarkable work of Sanofians worldwide.
We are now embarking on a new era for Sanofi, an era rich in opportunities and a true chance for Sanofi to become the global leader in immunology. I will now continue in English to tell you more about how far we've come. Thank you. For five years, value creation has been at the center of our strategy. By investing in R&D, we've delivered breakthroughs that have changed treatment paradigms. By refocusing our portfolio, we've delivered first and best-in-class medicines and vaccines to millions. Our strategic investments, prioritized pipeline, and smart resource allocation have created long-term value for our shareholders. Value creation is not only about profitability. It is about building a more resilient world to create a healthier future. We are doing that by increasing access to our medicines for underserved communities around the world.
Of course, the value we deliver is dependent on the value of our own people, from building a culture of inclusivity to creating workplaces conducive to collaboration, attracting top talent, and emphasizing professional development. We are investing in Sanofians so they may reach their full potential. The work we've done to create this kind of value was no small feat, but it was worth it. Because today, we are the company we aspired to be when we launched our play-to-win strategy five years ago. Today, Sanofi is an R&D-driven, AI-powered biopharma company committed to improving people's lives and delivering compelling growth. We are crystal clear on who we are, what we do, and who we do it for. I want to take a moment here to acknowledge that it's not always been easy.
As Frédéric mentioned, October 2023 was a key moment where we had to make certain tough decisions, like further investing and reprioritizing our pipeline to ensure our long-term growth in immunology. It was also the moment we announced, after years of incredible growth, our intention to separate our consumer health business. Of course, today marks the major announcement of independence. Under Julie's leadership and the brilliant effort of her team, Opella is in the best position possible to succeed as a consumer health powerhouse and an independently listed entity headquartered here in France. With this evolution of our strategy complete, Sanofi is better positioned to thrive as a focused biopharma company and better equipped to face the headwinds in the future.
Despite the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, the strength of our strategy, our proven ability to deliver, and our willingness to embrace innovation will keep us grounded in the years to come. We now have a seasoned team in place to guide us, one of the strongest leadership teams I've ever had the opportunity to work alongside. Each leader on this team brings a unique expertise to the table, which has proven invaluable for driving forward a truly holistic strategy. I'm also very pleased that Audrey Duval, President of Sanofi France, has joined the Executive Committee as Vice President of Corporate Affairs. In the current global landscape, ensuring Corporate Affairs has a seat and a voice at the Executive Committee level is more important than it has ever been. Now, let's take a closer look at 2024, where the culmination of last year's achievements comes into collective view.
Full-year performance saw double-digit sales growth of 11.3%. This was led by Dupixent, vaccines, and pharma launches as we continue to streamline our General Medicines business. Proof our launch engine is becoming a well-oiled machine. Looking more closely at Dupixent, we exceeded our target of EUR 13 billion in sales, driven by demand from more than one million patients globally. Dupixent made its official debut in COPD as well. With three major market approvals in less than three months, Dupixent became the first treatment approach in more than a decade for COPD, the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. While still in the early stages of launch, feedback from patients and prescribers has been highly positive. Dupixent also continued its momentum last year with expanded access for younger patient populations in eosinophilic esophagitis and nasal polyps, and just recently received our FDA approval for chronic spontaneous urticaria.
With further geographic expansion and increased penetration across approved indications, all will be key drivers of Dupixent's future growth. Our biopharma launch engine continues to perform, bolstering our top line for the remainder of the decade, including no major loss of exclusivity. Sales from new launches were led by Beyfortus, which reached blockbuster status with an incredible 6 million babies treated and protected, an incredible milestone. We are confident that ALTUVIIIO will become a blockbuster this year as we continue to see an increase in the number of patient switches, both from factor and non-factor therapies. In 2024, our vaccine business achieved a record-breaking milestone, surpassing EUR 8 billion in sales, a 13.5% increase, with Beyfortus as a key driver.
In addition to achieving blockbuster status, last year, Beyfortus demonstrated a significant reduction in hospitalizations in more than 20 countries, in addition to real-world data showing more than 80% effectiveness in over 100,000 babies. We remain global leaders in flu with a resilient franchise. 2024 sales exceeded expectations thanks to the differentiated Fluzone High- Dose and Flublok. Our pipeline also continues to grow, with six new studies underway, including three in phase 3, along with some fast-track designations. Turning to our pipeline progress in 2024, we made substantial headway on the regulatory front, with 14 approvals and 21 submission acceptances, three being new molecules with priority reviews.
Last year's positive scientific news flow made clear our world-class development capabilities with eight positive phase 3 readouts and the initiation of 18 mid to late-stage studies, seven being phase 3 starts and six new molecular entities moving into the clinic. As we look holistically at R&D productivity, we also see an increasing trend of high-impact publications in leading medical journals, a true biomarker for our commitment to focusing on groundbreaking science. We are already seeing our late-stage pipeline deliver in 2025, with the progress of three assets that demonstrate we are continuing to drive innovation in rare diseases, multiple sclerosis, where we have a deep and long history. Most recently, with the approval of Qfitlia, building on our long-standing commitment to the hemophilia community, Qfitlia enables us to reach an even broader population, including patients with both hemophilia A and B, as young as 12 years old.
Looking ahead, we anticipate regulatory decisions for two BTK inhibitors, next-generation small molecule therapies with big potential for patients. First is the potential approval of rilzabrutinib for a rare autoimmune bleeding disorder known as ITP. With pipeline and a product potential, we're studying rilzabrutinib across a broad spectrum of immune-driven diseases, including both dermatology and respiratory, where we're already industry leaders. Second, following pivotal results showing unprecedented effect on disability in patients with non-relapsing secondary MS, tolebrutinib is poised to become the first treatment approved for this form of the disease. While I won't go over this slide in detail, I know it's hard to read, but that's the point I want to make here. It shows clearly that we have one of the strongest pipelines in the industry, and I'm confident we prioritize the right assets to further build and diversify our portfolio.
Switching gears now to artificial intelligence, as the industry faces rising R&D costs and complex regulatory demands, AI has proved a powerful tool to drive innovation, efficiency, and even better patient outcomes. We can't do it alone. Our focus on establishing partnerships and collaborations with world-renowned AI experts gives our R&D teams the best chance at discovering and developing breakthrough medicines and vaccines with precision and speed. A recent example is the partnership we formed last year with OpenAI and Formation Bio to accelerate and improve patient recruitment. The result, six months later, we introduced Muse, a first-of-its-kind AI application for our industry, aiming to shorten patient recruitment timelines from months to just minutes. This is what we mean when we say R&D-driven and AI-powered. We've also reached a point where adopting AI at scale and speed is critical to staying competitive in our industry and beyond.
Having already put AI in the hands of all Sanofians, it's safe to say we are well ahead of the curve. With user-friendly, customized tools like Plai and Concierge, our own large language model, we are giving our people at every level and every function the ability to collect data at lightning speed from across the organization. Faster, more democratized access to data means no more siloed decision-making, no more missed opportunities. One example in manufacturing and supply allows for 360-degree performance tracking across 60 sites to predict and mitigate 80% of potential shortages. There are thousands more like it across our organization, allowing us to deliver better and faster for patients. Regarding climate, we are on track with our 2030 ambitions to reduce our carbon emissions.
By the end of 2024, our emissions were reduced by 47% on scopes one and two, getting closer to our target of 55%. On scope three, they were reduced by 10% out of our overall target of 30%. We have decided to go a step further with our sustainability strategy, with a focus on creating long-term value by aligning health outcomes with environmental and social responsibility. When it comes to climate change, one thing is clear: people's health and the environment are deeply connected. With over 70% of our portfolio and 75% of our pipeline assets targeting environmentally related diseases, we have a key role to play. First, we are expanding sustainable and equitable access to care, especially in respiratory health and diabetes, while deepening our scientific understanding of environmental health impacts.
Second, we're committed to achieving net zero by 2045 through sustainable resource use, eco-design in our products, and adapting our business to climate and nature-related challenges. Third, we're working to future-proof health systems by using data to demonstrate how our treatments can lower care-related emissions and improve sustainability. Together, these pillars reflect our conviction in caring for people and caring for the planet should not be a trade-off. Finally, I want to highlight a recent outstanding achievement for Sanofi. Every two years, the Access to Medicine Index evaluates 20 of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies according to their efforts to expand access to their products for people living in low and middle-income countries. In 2024, Sanofi made the big jump to be at number three.
Our improved ranking underscores the significant progress we've made to develop a robust governance of access, strong research and development initiatives, and effective product delivery strategies. Notably, our Global Health Unit has played an important role by delivering crucial medicines from the impact brand portfolio to 30 low and middle-income countries. To close, I want to thank each and every Sanofian for the role they have played in our modernization thus far. They are the driving force behind the successful execution of our strategy with their passion and their commitment to go above and beyond for patients. In closing, I want to thank Frédéric Oudéa and all the members of the Board for their support. Of course, I want to thank our shareholders for your continued trust.
We have more work to do, of course, but the path is clear, and I'm confident we are well on our way to becoming the world's leading immunology company. Thank you, [Foreign language] .
[Foreign language] Thank you Paul. Now I'll hand over to François-Xavier Roger, who will be talking you through the financial performance of our company for 2024 after watching.
[Foreign language] We go above and beyond for patients as one of our core values. We do things here in Belgium, but that affects Sanofi and different parts of the world. We're totally borderless. Everybody who works at Sanofi is a very important voice to the whole process, and we all have a role to play. We're throwing everything we can, but even if it doesn't work, that is okay.
You have to have a mindset in what we do to be okay with failure, to be okay with trying new things. Do it again, do it better, figure out what you did wrong, and do it again. How do I explain what I do to my children? I think my children are aware of the mission that we have to serve each other. Our team works directly with patients as advisors, and the stories are always very consistent that what you do matters. Don't stop. We need you. You can't give up.
[Foreign language] Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, before we start and before I comment on the excellent results we had in 2024, let me recall that the financial performances presented this afternoon include our new reporting scope that excludes Opella now, which is on an equity basis.
Now, in 2024, the record growth of our sales was at 11.3%. That was due to the fact that we've launched new products and also thanks to Dupixent that did better than our ambition, which is EUR 13 billion in sales. The launches of new products today represent 11% of our sales, and this includes Beyfortus that reached EUR 1.7 billion in sales during its first full year when it was marketed. Now, to maintain this good growth over the years to come, we've increased our R&D expenditures by EUR 887 million in 2024. We've also decided to develop our sales capacities with more than EUR 500 million in addition invested in sales and marketing so as to prepare the many launches for the many new products. The operating income was up 7.6%, and the net EPS for our operations was up 4.1%, therefore exceeding our forecast by more than six points.
These results show that we are in a position to create strong growth while still investing in the future development of our company and while managing our costs in a disciplined manner. Now, this financial and commercial performance is well balanced, and it's also based on the digital transformation with AI, which is now deployed on all the value chain. It accelerates the productivity of our R&D and optimizes our production and also our commercial approach, which contributes directly to our operating efficiency. In 2024, our industrial investments, IT investments, and real estate investments were up to reach EUR 1.8 billion. Amongst other things, we've announced significant investments at Vitry-sur-Seine so as to increase twofold our production capacity for the production of monoclonal antibodies. In addition, we're going to invest in two new factories, one in Germany and one in China, so that we can produce more insulin.
Finally, we've built two sophisticated and flexible factories for biological medicines called Modulus in France at Neuville-sur-Saône, but also in Singapore. These investments clearly illustrate the fact that we continue our industrial commitment to produce medicines and vaccines, and also it shows that we trust in our future growth. These R&D investments have always increased since 2024 to reach EUR 7.4 billion in 2024. These expenses show how deep our pipeline is and really show that we have scientific capabilities. These investments will slightly increase in 2025 so as to strengthen our positions on the four main treatment areas: immunology, vaccines, neurology, rare diseases, and potentially in new therapeutic areas with medicine coverages that don't exist today. In 2024, our free cash flow was at EUR 6 billion and was impacted by three one-off items.
First, the end of factoring with an effect of EUR 1.4 billion, the reduction of the net price of Lantus in the U.S., EUR 1.1 billion, and also an unfavorable impact of exchange rates, EUR 0.8 billion. Apart from these three one-off events, our free cash flow was up 25% in 2024. By the way, progressively, we expect that free cash flow will go back to the historic levels, that is, more or less 20% of our total sales in 2025 and 2026. The slight increase in our net debt at the end of 2024 includes the inclusion of any BRICS and also our dividend payout policy. Our net debt to EBITDA ratio is 0.7 at the end of 2024, therefore a low level of debt, which gives us quite a lot of financial flexibility.
In February 2025, we signed an agreement with CD&R, Clayton Dubilier & Rice , to give them a majority stake in Opella. We will close this transaction today, and Sanofi this morning received an amount to the tune of EUR 10 billion whilst keeping a significant stake in the capital structure of Opella to support its company as it's gaining independence and so as to support its future value creation. The amount of the sale or transaction will be reallocated in compliance with our capital allocation policy, which is the one you can see on the slide. Our main priority is to invest in our business to bolster growth, as you can see here, with an increase in our investments in R&D, in sales and marketing, in industrial assets, and also in AI.
We will also continue and explore external growth opportunities so as to strengthen our four treatment areas that we already have and possibly cover new needs and technologies. For all of these investments, we are very strict with our discipline and we focus on value creation for the shareholders. In line with the commitments vis-à-vis the shareholders, Sanofi announced a share buyback program to the tune of EUR 5 billion in 2025, including EUR 3 billion bought back from L'Oréal at the end of January. The share buyback has an accretive effect on the EPS and partly offsets the fact that Opella is on an equity basis in our financial statements or books. This really shows that we trust in the future of Sanofi that can create long-term value for the shareholders. Our proposed dividend is EUR 3.92 per share for 2024.
It really is the 30th year in a row that we've been increasing the dividend. It really shows that remuneration of the shareholders is important for us and that our dividend or payout policy is reliable. Now, for 2025, Sanofi expects a sales growth to the tune of 7% more or less and a net EPS which will be at more or less 11%. These ambitions are on constant exchange rates and exclude the impact of hyperinflation and the share buyback program. Nowadays, we're expecting a negative impact from exchange rates, more or less - 2% on sales and the equivalent amount on the net EPS or business net EPS. Our objective is clear: it is to create value, and this means we have to have more quality innovation.
Our sales were up 11.3% in 2024, and this growth is 3x bigger than what you have on the global pharma industry, and that's due to the success of our recent changes. The estimated value of our R&D portfolio has more than increased twofold since 2022. This sharp increase is due to the fact that we've strategically invested in our pipeline and also that we've focused on the best technological platforms in the priority treatment areas. These investments in innovation mean that now the total yield for the shareholders is higher than that of the peers, and that's been the case over the past three years.
More particularly in 2024, when we outperformed versus the other pharma peers by more than nine points, the value creation for the shareholders really confirms the solidity of our innovation model and our ability to make sure that scientific development goes hand in hand with sustainable growth. Now, I'll share our ambitious objectives for 2020-2030 based on Dupixent, our pharma launches, and the vaccine. Dupixent sales will be at EUR 22 billion is what we expect for 2030 on the basis of growth for the existing indications and the fact that we're going to cover new indications. The biopharma launches will create more than EUR 10 billion in sales in 2030. This reflects the depth and richness of our innovation, and the vaccine business will exceed EUR 10 billion in sales in 2030 thanks to our portfolio, which is differentiated, and Beyfortus, which is a breakthrough.
This is supported by our solid financial position and our continual investment and engagement in innovation. Until the end of the decade, we'll not lose any patent exclusivity and we'll continue and invest in R&D and launches. We trust that the midterm and long-term outlook is positive for our business. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your attention.
[Foreign language] Thank you very much, François-Xavier. Before I give the floor to Audrey Duval, who is going to tell you about major achievements of Sanofi in France, I'm going to show you a short video that summarizes a number.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, I'm delighted to join you with this video which perfectly illustrates Sanofi's achievements in France. Sanofi is a biopharmaceutical company that innovates in R&D and harnesses AI at scale to improve people's lives and create long-term growth. This sums up who we are, what we do.
Every day, our actions are part of this ambition. A few days ago, this ambition materialized with the inauguration in France of a new R&D excellence unit to accelerate the development of innovative vaccines, a project that is emblematic of our roots in France here in Marcy-L’Étoile at the service of patients, of the economy, and of society. This represents EUR 120 million invested, 300 talents mobilized directly to bring to life a platform at the cutting edge of research, especially on messenger RNA. 73% of the companies involved in the building projects are French companies. This is a very strong moment in our innovation strategy where France continues to play a major part, and this will continue to be the case in the coming years. Nothing is done alone. All of those achievements together were made possible with our employees by relying on a rich, first-class, and committed French ecosystem.
Today, we have more than 100 strategic partnerships with external players of all walks of life: biotechs, academia, public institutions, hospitals, accelerators, et cetera. You probably are familiar with the Paris-Saclay cancer cluster, the largest PPP in France in the fight against cancer. We are also the partner of choice of Orano Med, the medical subsidiary of the Orano Group, to create a French pioneer bringing together Sanofi's nuclear and biopharma expertise. Beyond R&D, we take responsibility for contributing to Europe's health and technological sovereignty through strategic investments, a constant demand for excellence and performance in all of our processes, a large-scale use of artificial intelligence, finally, new state-of-the-art industrial sites. Here are three concrete examples. Modulus, in Neuville-sur-Saône, inaugurated in the presence of the French President of the Republic, this site represents an investment of EUR 500 million.
It is a strong symbol of our modernity with unparalleled flexible technology that is unique in the world, the ability to produce up to four vaccines or biomedicines simultaneously. Bioproduction in Lyon Gerland, a pillar of our biopharma strategy. This site plays a key role, particularly in the manufacture of our flagship treatment for type 1 diabetes. Finally, our Sisteron and Ambarès sites. They embody our historic excellence in chemistry at the service of immunology and urology. These are real drivers of performance and resilience. I would like now to take a moment to go back to what is particularly important to us, our commitments to society, and just as much to those who make up Sanofi, our employees. I will illustrate my remarks with an example for each. Since 2021, our partnership with the French Foundation of Hospitals has been one of our strongest commitments in France.
Through this program that takes care of caregivers, we take concrete action for those who take care of us. We plan to set up 750 areas from which 600,000 caregivers have been able to benefit. As a doctor, I know how important the quality of these rest areas is, especially for the well-being of caregivers who have intense days. It's very important to recharge your batteries in a quiet and pleasant space in order to give afterwards the best to patients and families. We're very proud to support this major program of the Hospital Foundation. We're celebrating five years of this unique partnership, which will give us the opportunity to communicate about it throughout 2025. Of course, there's our partnership with the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
A partnership we have designed for our employees first to bring together around values of surpassing oneself, solidarity, and pride in moving forward together. 2,024 volunteer employees came from 50 countries. Our exhibition at La Maison Sanofi, the headquarters, welcomed more than 6,500 visitors from all over the world. A great opportunity for our employees to invite their families and loved ones in a real spirit of sharing. There is this symbolic moment, the creation and throwing of the meningitis flag, which I'm carrying today, which we're carrying alongside the athletes. Every 15 seconds, one person in the world gets this terrible disease that could be fatal and lead to debilitating handicaps. In meningitis, each second counts. Yesterday, we have revealed the colors of this flag on the McLaren car that we will support with 400 Sanofians in the 24 hours of the month.
This represents our commitment for this cause through Universal Values of Sports. We're also the only company in France that perpetuates the legacy of Paris 2024 to as many people as possible. We've launched a tour in France and Europe of Zeus, the iconic horse of the opening ceremony on the Seine, and also the Science Lab exhibition. This horse is not just left at Marseille in the air. It is exhibited on the terrace of the Museum, where it has a record number of visitors. 100,000 people have come to visit it, which means more than 200,000 visitors since the beginning. Through this cavalcade, Zeus continues to embody essential values on our sites, values we defend every day. Values like excellence, the query for excellence, or passion for innovation to improve people's lives. This unique tour offers the public the ability to discover science.
Indeed, we have imagined the Lab of Science as a pedagogical interactive exhibition to make our métiers more accessible and inspire new vocations. This is also Sanofi's strong partnerships as close as possible to our labs and industrial sites throughout France. Passionate women and men who bring our values to life on a daily basis, who transform science into a real impact for the health of French people and patients around the world. Thanks to all for making this adventure happen. Together, we're making a difference in people's lives. We're improving people's lives. Thank you.
Thank you, Audrey. Before I give the floor to Maïté Durrenbach , who is going to tell us about the industrial modernization, we do have a video on Zeus if you have not seen that horse live in France. A small video on this icon.
Inspiration doesn't follow clocks.
It arrives when we bend our thoughts, stretch our imagination. Every detail inspired, shaped, refined to turn yesterday's impossible into tomorrow's way forward. The brilliance behind our scientific breakthroughs is reimagined by Atelier blam in the technical prowess that brought Zeus to life, the metal horse unveiled last summer on the Seine in Paris. It takes bold minds to push the limits and redefine the expected, both in the intricate dance of scientific discovery and the daring mechanics behind Zeus. Untamed beauty, pushing limits, reshaping worlds. Now, the journey begins.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, it is an honor to address you today to talk about the advancements and the strategic vision of our industrial network. Today, we find ourselves at a key point in Sanofi's history. As our CEO, Paul Hudson, mentioned in his presentation, more than 40 new products could potentially be launched by Sanofi by 2030.
Making all this possible, that is the collective challenge we're working on at Sanofi within manufacturing and supply, preparing to launch all these products regardless of the technological modalities on an unprecedented scale and speed. Sanofi's industrial network is somehow the beating heart of our group today. Our teams consist of nearly 29,000 employees in the world, including 9,200 in France alone. Our industrial footprint spans the globe through a network of 39 sites, 14 of which are located in France, with the latest, Modulus, recently mentioned, was inaugurated recently in Neuville-sur-Saône in the Lyon area. Together, these sites and teams produce today annually more than 2 billion units of medication. I want to highlight the unprecedented scale of the industrial transformation we've initiated, which is accelerating.
We've reached an unprecedented level of modularity and flexibility in our history, allowing us to respond with even greater agility to the evolving needs of the markets and patients we serve. The modernization of our activities, started in 2022, has allowed us in three years to achieve remarkable progress. We have transformed a fragmented organization into an integrated network through simplification, standardization, digitalization. We have increased our network capacity to better meet the needs of a rapidly changing portfolio. We've also increased our capabilities to support the exceptional growth of Dupixent and the launch of new products like ALTUVIIIO, Beyfortus, or Rezurock, whose sales have globally increased by 300% in three years. All this we have done by reducing our production costs despite post-COVID inflation. We have strengthened reliability and diversity of our sources of supply. We will reach 90% of dual sourcing for all of our blockbusters by 2029.
We did all this while improving the safety of our teams in the field, in our sites, and throughout the world. We want to go further than that. That is why by 2030, we plan to invest EUR 8.6 billion by 2030, EUR 2.5 billion in France to equip our country with the best technologies in advanced chemistry, messenger RNA, and bioproduction. Allow me to now address an area of expertise in which we are also investing, which is dear to me because I come from it, i.e., quality. What is quality? It is the set of measures you put in place to ensure your products are safe and comply with all regulations in effect throughout the world. More than just a question of compliance, quality is above all a matter of trust. It guarantees the integrity and effectiveness of our medications. It, in fact, protects our reputation.
You see two figures to illustrate its importance. Every day, 40,000 Sanofians use our quality processes. Every year, 5 million quality tests are carried out in our labs on our products. In the last three years, we have focused our efforts on simplifying and digitalizing our processes. For example, we've increased by 50% the efficiency of our quality reviews, contributing therefore to accelerating the market launch of our products without compromising on our standards. By the end of the year, we will have connected more than 2,000 lab equipments, enabling automatic capture and real-time analysis of our data. This technological evolution will not only reinforce our operational efficiency, but also it will give us better traceability and reliability. We are convinced that digital technologies and artificial intelligence in particular are the main levers for accelerating our performance.
I'm here talking about multiplying our ability to simultaneously launch the production of new drugs and medication. We've already digitalized all labs and production sites involved in the launch of new products. What does this actually mean in practice? It means that we have systematized the digital collection and processing of data. It means that redundant or low-added value tasks have been automated in the plants and that in the end, our employees can now focus their attention on important issues requiring their expertise. We now manage in real-time our supply flows, our stocks, our deadlines. Besides, simulation and predictive analysis now allow us to better anticipate and prevent risks. Of course, we do not intend to stop here. I'd like to take this opportunity to share a scoop with you.
We will very soon inaugurate in Lyon what we call a digital accelerator for the M&S network, bringing together bold minds, digital pioneers, problem-solving experts, and cutting-edge tools at the service of the modernization of M&S. The creation of this new structure adds to two similar initiatives already launched by Sanofi in France. This perfectly illustrates the ambition we have to reinvent ourselves in what we can do and how we do it. To learn more about it, we would like you to join us on May 15. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, I'd like to thank you for your trust.
[Foreign language] Thank you, Maïté. This is it for this fireworks of presentations to illustrate all the projects ongoing within Sanofi.
Now I'm going to turn towards our statutory auditors, Anne-Claire Ferrié , representing once again PricewaterhouseCoopers, is going to present a summary of their reports on behalf of the College of Auditors.
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, on behalf of the joint statutory auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Forvis Mazars, I am pleased to report on the completion of our engagement for the fiscal year 2024 and present the reports that we have issued in the context of this combined shareholders' meeting to enable you to exercise your judgment when voting on the resolutions.
The reports for the ordinary general meeting concern the financial statements and related party agreements, and those for the extraordinary part of the meeting are required by law in the context of proposals for delegations to your Board of Directors of the competence or powers for carrying out operations on the capital of your company. I will now present the main items of these reports as well as our findings. First of all, regarding the accounts, you'll find our reports on pages 467 and 497 of the French version of the URD. We issued an unqualified opinion on financial statements and consolidated statements. In our reports, we present key audit matters. These are matters that require particular attention due to their nature, the relative significance to the statements, or a significant degree of judgment required in assessing the assumptions and estimates used.
There are four key audit matters for the consolidated financial statements. First of all, the value of intangible assets on the consolidated balance sheet for a value of EUR 22 billion, then rebates and retrocessions given as part of Sanofi's business in the United States, and then product liability risks and litigation faced by the group, and finally, uncertain tax positions in relation to the group's operations. As far as the annual statements are concerned, the key audit matter that we mention relates to the measurement of participatory shares on the balance sheet of your company for a net value of EUR 83 billion. In our reports, we explain our vision of the risks associated to these key audit matters as well as the way that we looked at them as part of our audits.
You will find on page 91 of the URD French version our report on related party agreements. This report describes so that you can understand the conventions between Sanofi and companies with joint shareholders and the conventions between your company and one of its corporate officers. We have been informed of a new agreement concluded since the closing, which was subject to the prior authorization of the board on February 2, 2025. This agreement is concluded between your company and L'Oréal regarding the repurchase for cancellation purposes of a block of 29,556,650 Sanofi shares held by L'Oréal for a total price of EUR 2,999,000,000. This operation is part of the share buyback program approved by the combined general meeting of 30 April 2024.
In this report, we also indicate that we have not been informed of any agreement authorized during the financial year or already approved by the general meeting and whose execution would have continued during the past financial year. We have also issued various reports required by law on resolutions which could affect operations on the share capital of Sanofi. Our reports detail the verifications performed on information contained in resolutions 17- 23, as well as 25 and 26, on which you are asked to vote regarding a share capital reduction of your company, issuance of shares or various securities with or without preferential rights, and finally, issuance of shares or securities giving access to the share capital of the company and reserved for members of a company savings plan or to employees or corporate officers of foreign subsidiaries.
These transactions comply with legal provisions, and all the information required for you to assess their impact has been brought to your attention. Finally, for the fiscal year 2024, your company published for the first time in its management report sustainability information in accordance with the provisions of the French transposition of the European directive called CSRD. In this context, we issued a report that you will find on page 298 of the French version of the URD, which aims to provide limited assurance on the compliance with the so-called ESRS standards of the double materiality process and the sustainability information contained therein, as well as compliance with taxonomy publication requirements. Based on the work we've carried out, we've concluded that we did not identify any significant errors, omissions, or inconsistencies.
We made an emphasis of matter which is related to uncertainties in the context of the initial implementation of the ESRS, but this did not affect our conclusion. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, Mr. Chairman, thank you for your attention.
Thank you so much, Ms. Ferrié. Final presentation for the afternoon. I will now give the floor to Patrick Kron for the remuneration policy.
[Foreign language] Mr. Chairman, Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, like every year and for the last time, because now I'm getting dangerously close to the age limit, it is my duty to report to you on the activities of the remuneration committee, which I have the honor of chairing, and more specifically on the aspects relating to the remuneration of corporate officers, as explained in the universal registration document and set out in draft resolutions 10 - 15.
Let us start with the slide showing the directors' remuneration. It's fairly simple. We are not proposing any change to the remuneration package for directors, which would remain set at EUR 2.5 million in 2025, as was the case for 2023 and 2024. The following slides, the two next slides, deal with the Chairman's remuneration, both on the general remuneration principles and the 2024 remuneration of Mr. Oudéa, which remains unchanged in 2025. Remunerations for 2024 and 2025, in their structure and level, are the same as the ones set when he was appointed in 2023. Now, if you allow me, I will move on to the remuneration of the CEO.
The documentation in front of you reminds you of his remuneration structure, which has remained unchanged from previous years, made up, as usual, of a fixed part defined in function of a package of relevant comparable pharmaceutical companies, variable annual remuneration based on the achievement of performance targets and based on the achievement of quantitative predefined targets, long-term remuneration by way of shares, also fully subject to performance criteria with a ceiling that we showed on this table, and a supplementary pension also linked to a performance condition.
If you look at the year 2024, Paul Hudson's remuneration is mentioned here, made up of a fixed remuneration of EUR 1.4 million gross, unchanged from previous years, 2022 and 2023, variable remuneration assessed based on the achievement of predefined targets, as I said a minute ago, with a level of EUR 2.1 million if achievements are strictly in line with the target, and a range of variation between 0 and EUR 3.5 million, so between 0 and 250% of fixed remuneration. Finally, the award of performance shares, 82,500 performance shares, the acquisition, the vesting of which is related to presence conditions, but also performance, multi-year performance conditions based on internal but also external criteria, comparing Sanofi's performance with that of a basket of comparable companies.
In 2024, moving on to the quantitative application of the principles I have just reminded you of on the next slide, here you have fixed remuneration with the various components of, so EUR 1.4 million fixed remuneration, variable remuneration EUR 2,566,200, 122% of variable remuneration on target because I reminded you that it was EUR 2.1 million. Four details that will be presented on the next slide, performance shares, 82,500 with the corresponding value for these shares, supplementary pension and benefits in kind. Now coming back to variable pay, the bonus for Paul Hudson in 2024, it is made up of two main types of criteria, financial ones, 60% of the global award, and individual goals. The largest majority of them, financial targets and individual targets, are quantitative. You have got detailed weightings of each based on predefined goals and the achievement rate of each of these goals.
You can see that both for the financial part, sales growth, EPS, and free cash flow performance was good in line with the comments from your Chief Financial Officer a minute ago. For the range 0%-167%, you have an achievement rate of 129.34%. That is the average between 158, 112, and 117 that you can see on the slide. For the 40% of individual goals, there is business transformation, portfolio development, R&D, and CSR. The achievement rate is the average of the three figures that you have here of 111.42%. If you calculate the average of 60% of the 129 and 40% of 111, you have all done the math, and you can share their conclusion that the result is 122.2%. The final slide here that I am going to show you as regards the 2025 remuneration of the CEO is envisaged as follows.
First of all, annual fixed remuneration, the proposal and selected by the Board is to raise it from EUR 1.4 million to EUR 1.6 million. This represents a 14% increase on which I would have two comments. The first one is that this fixed remuneration is not subject to an annual revision. We revise it every three years, so it should be compared with the level of remuneration set three years ago. The second one is that when we position these figures in the basket of comparable pharma companies, Paul Hudson is positioned in the second quartile, so between 25% and 50% of the remuneration range of peers. Once again, as I said, this fixed remuneration is not revised every year, but periodically. The second element is variable pay. We haven't changed the remuneration structure.
It will still be linked, as was the case in previous years, with the achievement of both financial and individual targets that are predefined. The third aspect is share remuneration. This share remuneration, the idea is to raise it from 82,500 shares, as was the case in previous years, to 90,000. I would simply ask you to note the following thing. It is a bit technical, but that illustrates the spirit in which the Board of Directors looked at this item. In fact, in the determination of the performance criteria for the CEO, there are internal criteria, i.e., the achievement over a three-year period of cash flow, net business earnings, R&D, and CSR. There is also what we called TSR, which is a weird animal, which simply means total shareholder return, which measures the performance as seen by shareholders.
Over the period, what is the remuneration of the performance for shareholders? The share price development plus the dividend paid out over the period. The idea is to compare that TSR, total shareholder return, with that of peers, the 12 pharma companies on the panel that we use as a benchmark. What was decided was to bring that TSR criterion from 20% to 30% to better assess, to better align the long-term incentive of the CEO with the remuneration of shareholders, to raise it from 20% to 30%. You can see that going from 20% to 30% significantly increases the alignment that we wanted to have between the CEO's performance share remuneration and the shareholders' remuneration.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is what I wanted to tell you regarding the remuneration package for corporate officers as proposed and as decided by the Board and subject to the shareholders' votes. Thank you so much for your attention.
[Foreign language] Thank you very much, Patrick. We're now going to move to our debate. Before I open the debate as such, the Board has received three written questions with 17 questions from the Forum for Responsible Investment. The answers to these questions were published on the company's website in keeping with regulations. Please, now let's turn to your questions. I'd like to remind you, for everybody to have time to speak, please remain concise, succinct, and limit your intervention if possible. Of course, I'd like to remind you all that only shareholders can take the floor. You have people who are there with microphones, so the debate is open.
You can ask your questions. Sir? Question number five, panel number five. Can you give a microphone, please, to that person?
Thank you. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for the presentation. Bravo, Marc Jamin. I've been a shareholder for a long time. I have two small questions regarding the spinoff. What will be the next major steps for Opella? And regarding the old spinoff, EURO API, would you say that EURO API is the best possible position now, as Mr. Chairman said? Thank you very much and good afternoon.
Thank you. Thank you for your faithfulness as loyalty. Thank you for the questions, particularly as they're related to value creation. The next steps for Opella, of course, will be decided by Opella, but they will play a significant part of the decision-making, or at least the governance, on the B oard.
I won't speak on behalf of Julie, the new leader of Opella, but I will say that expectations are high, as always, and that accelerating growth and perhaps adding to the portfolio is a priority. Bringing stability to the change, it's a lot of change for people, but I think people are very enthusiastic and motivated for the many that we speak to around the world. I think they're excited and they think this is overdue. For EURO API, it's been a difficult journey. The intent was clear from the very beginning that we'd create something to remind you the vast majority of the growth for those sites came from third-party manufacturing of API. Many partners didn't want to do more with those sites because, of course, we were the owner and we were competitive.
The decision was made in terms of value creation and job stability to create EURO API. It was a difficult time. Of course, capital markets got more complicated, opportunities declined, and biotechs were not commissioning new API from EURO API. That said, I think the team have done a remarkable job on the ground, and I think the new Chair and CEO, both with very deep knowledge of the sector, met with François and I just very recently to lay out their plan to give us confidence that our original intent to allow them to flourish and grow, create exciting workplace and maintain job stability, that we finally had the right plan at the right time. It's been a long journey, I would say, more difficult than we expected, partly external, partly some choices that I think we could have made better.
I feel, we feel perhaps now that now they have a chance to do something very important, which was the original intent.
[Foreign language] Thank you very much, Paul. Next question. Here I see a gentleman in the back. Yes? Can you take the microphone?
Dominique Chauvin, you have a partnership with Adocia, and I think you've invested already EUR 10 million. You have an exclusivity to continue with that startup. I would like to know what's the situation now. I think this concerns treatment for diabetes with weight loss. Until when will you have exclusivity? What are your future intentions about this startup?
Thank you for your question. I think that it's not relevant to talk about each startup, but maybe. With startups more globally, and I don't know what you can say on this specific one.
Yeah, there's nothing really I can add to that.
In fact, I'm not familiar actually with the details. Now, Adocia, in general, we don't have any partnership for, and I'm looking at Houman to see if there's a research collaboration or indeed with Olivier. So maybe Olivier wants to comment. Olivier, you want to grab a microphone from somewhere? On a broader note, it is quite clear with how quickly things are evolving, both out of China and AI in general, that we do not have the monopoly on innovation and partnering and doing it with small investments to try and find out whether we can find something exciting in somebody else's research labs and then perhaps jumping in to take a bigger piece or even acquire businesses or partner is absolutely our intent. On this specific example, I'm not aware of the details, so Olivier.
[Foreign language] As you know, we have a partnership with Adocia. This partnership makes it possible for us to exert options and continue developing that product. We will make our decision to continue or not the development in the next 12 months.
Thank you, Olivier. Just to introduce you, you're a member of the Executive Committee of the General Medicine Department. Next question. Number two, panel number two. Yes, sir.
Nicolas Triboutin, I've been a shareholder for more than 30 years. Congratulations on your result. My question for the Board of Directors: when you look at the main pharma companies, we see that Boards are chaired by very experienced people in this specific area of pharma. My question is very naive. I don't want to insult, but why is it that the Board has appointed for the second time after Mr. Weinberg a gentleman with no experience in the pharma industry?
Thank you for the question, which is more for the President than to the Board. Maybe Patrick, I can ask the recently appointed President of the Governance Committee. I'm not going to answer on my own behalf. I can say a few words, but I'm not the only one. There are other bankers who are leading pharmas. Anyway, Patrick.
Thank you very much. It's very nice to give me the microphone. Thank you very much. I'm really flattered. I would say that the succession of Serge Weinberg was carried by the Governance and Nomination Committee, which was chaired by Gilles Schnepp. We were involved in that nomination. This process was managed in a very stringent manner.
We have reviewed several applications from all walks of life, including from pharma companies, and we did arrive at the conclusion that Frédéric Oudéa was indeed the best-suited President able to meet the challenge of Sanofi. There is a second issue, if I may. Indeed, the need to have within the Board of Directors pharma skills that are state-of-the-art. If, of course, I'm not going to give you marks, but if you look at the evolution of appointments made in the last few years, you will notice that we have in the Board various walks of life, different personalities. We now have people who have skills in this area. One of them introduced himself recently, and I think that, like many other members, he has given a very relevant illustration of the skills we have within the Board now.
I'd like to reassure shareholders we are in a very technical area. I've been there for 12 years. I don't understand all of your press releases, but within the Board, we do have people who understand things. Be reassured, we have increased the skills, the level of skills in the Board. We now have a Scientific Committee where we have new skills and powers under the impulse of Frédéric Oudéa. This committee is very active to assess the portfolio, but also to assess possible partnerships and acquisitions. As a Board of Directors, as President of the Committee of Nominations, I'm very serene about the choice of the President and the composition of the Board. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Patrick, for that. I'd like to add that now we have two members in the Boards who are both members of the Strategic Committee and Scientific Committee, which I think is essential to make the right strategic choices, especially in terms of acquisition. Question number six now. At the other end, yes.
Good afternoon. I would like to know what products you're going to put in the two Modulus that were just built. Which are being built.
Yeah, great. It's an excellent question. Thomas Triomphe, Global Head of Vaccines. This is the question you've been waiting for. He's here for the microphone.
[Foreign language] Good afternoon. Thomas Triomphe, I'm in charge of the Vaccine Division. As was underlined, we have two Modulus, one in Neuville-sur-Saône and another one in Singapore. Both are advancing in parallel, and both are in the process of qualifying their industrial processes.
Today, we have two different ranges of products. The one that is based in Singapore would be for specialty medicine with a certain range of enzymes that are important for rare disease. For the one based in Neuville-sur-Saône, we're focusing on the vaccine part. Today, we have three vaccine processes that are being qualified. mRNA is one of the three processes that are being qualified. We have two other vaccine procedures and three products that are either in phase 2 or 3. Those are the first three products, but of course, in the future, we will add as many as possible. That's the very purpose of a Modulus because a Modulus is modular.
If I understand you, today you have no product manufactured there yet. What is your horizon, 2030?
No. Thank you for your question. The horizon was announced last year. It has not changed.
The industrial qualification will be at the end of 2025 for an operational site in 2026, and sites cannot be added like pieces of a puzzle. Each new site must be registered by regulatory agencies, whether in the U.S. or in Europe. We've already had them in Modulus. Once the processes have been qualified, that is exactly in line with the plans made several years ago. Once those processes have been validated, regulatory agencies will validate the products. When we have phase 3 tests, then we will have marketing. It will depend on the result of phase 3 and the registration of the product. The commercial products will be around 2027, but as I said, we're already qualifying the processes today. We have several employees already working in Neuville-sur-Saône because you need a lot of employees to qualify those industrial processes.
Next question. Question number three.
Mr. President, good afternoon.
APRI, Association for Individual Shareholders. To go back to the question about the Board of Directors, you're using AI in all areas of the company. It's very good. It's a very good thing. How come that AI is not a member of the Board? This is what we have in Hong Kong, in a pharma company. AI has a seat on the Board. One question about an article published yesterday in Le Monde. You're saying that you want to focus on blockbusters. After the failures in the area of COVID vaccines, what is the drug that could be the possible blockbuster in the pipeline? You're saying you're controlling your pipeline, but what are those blockbusters? Finally, last question. By selling your CHD division with Doliprane, do you consider that you are in a CSR approach? What were the reactions of the stakeholders?
Besides, do you have a committee of shareholders?
Thank you for your answers. Thank you. I'm going to take the questions regarding the Boards. Process on Doliprane, to what extent it's related to ESG, and the blockbusters. [Foreign language] First, regarding AI. AI is very present on our Board. Last week, we've had one of our two strategic seminars, and during that seminar, we have spent a lot of time on the way AI could be a game changer in the added value chain from research to marketing of the product and access to market. We are doing training, we're looking at how the company invests, we're looking at very practical examples, and we do have the feeling that AI and the use of data may allow us to discover better and faster.
One of the features of our industry is that when you bet on the R&D of a pharmaceutical product, there are high failure rates and the cycle is very long. Probably thanks to AI in particular, the hope is to go faster on the right drug and to be more efficient and shorten the cycle of development. We've also presented a number of apps that allow you to steer better, make better financial decisions, have multi-channel marketing. AI is at the heart of the Board's priorities. Regarding the structure, before I give the floor to Paul, we don't have a committee of stakeholders. We have a committee, which is the Nomination and Governance Committee, which spends time on ESG, CSR, looks at different aspects with all of the stakeholders. I think that Sanofi's commitment to CSR is not well known.
We're trying all the time to publicize it, but the company does put CSR at the heart of its approach. Audrey has given you examples about initiatives you may not have known in France and in Africa. Maybe, Paul.
Yeah, of course. I mean, just to finish the AI point, I can assure you the Board is very active in challenging management to make sure that our AI strategy, development, and governance is a very real and live subject. What's interesting for us, although it's not always easy to hear, bringing perspectives on AI from other sectors, when most of us have only ever been in healthcare, is extremely useful. We get to think differently than we've felt, than perhaps many of the teams, many of the management teams have said. It's not always easy to hear, but it is absolutely the right challenge to make.
I wasn't quite sure whether you also meant agents, and we in our drug development committees now deploy agents, not because they make the decision, but because we like to get an impartial view on whether a drug should advance. Not because it makes the decision, but it's a good place to start the conversation, because the agent doesn't have a career at stake when it makes a recommendation. It's important in terms of improving our probability of success, which I think Frédéric demonstrated his knowledge of the industry, because that's one of our biggest challenges. For blockbusters, you know, it's becoming a very important year or two for us. We launched ALTUVIIIO a little more than a year ago, and it'll be a blockbuster this year.
It is giving people with hemophilia A a near-normal life, and particularly for young people getting infused, often held down by their parents to be infused on the floor 3x per week from as long ago as they can remember. This is game-changing for them. On track to be a blockbuster. You have already heard about the successes of Beyfortus, a number of babies protected across the world, more than 6 million babies last year, already a blockbuster in its first full season. Launches ahead that are extremely exciting and game-changing. We will launch tolebrutinib in secondary progressive MS, delaying or slowing progression by 31% in a population of patients that are often seen as only ending up in a wheelchair or with a cane at the very best outcome. We have done something with that medicine that has never been done before in the area.
If we get approved, and we do not know, we have accelerated review, but if we get approved, it will be perhaps one of the biggest medicines the company has ever nurtured and made all the decisions on whether it went into MS or not. Lastly, later this year, we will get the information out of the phase three readout on amlitelimab in atopic dermatitis. This is a significant moment for the organization. This is not to compete with Dupixent, but it is to give patients a unique opportunity to get an injection every 12 weeks instead of every two weeks and lead a near-normal life. That for us, for patients, given that only 9%, only 9% of patients with atopic dermatitis that should be on an advanced therapy like Dupixent receive it. Ninety-one percent, rather, of patients that should be getting these medicines do not.
Lots of room for amlitelimab. They're going to be the biggest medicines up ahead of us. They're going to change the nature of the company. It takes a while, but I'm very proud that we put ourselves in a situation to do that.
[Foreign language] We may listen to Julie now. She's going to say something about Opella. Yeah, she's going to take care. [Foreign language] She's going to be in charge of this new baby born.
Hello. Thank you for asking this question. Can you hear me all right? Yes, good. As far as Doliprane is concerned, you know, Doliprane is a French brand and made mainly in France and mainly for the French. This change in the shareholding structure will not change anything. Doliprane will still be manufactured in France for the French.
This is how things will continue. I hope I've answered your question. Yeah. We can also mention all the commitments made in terms of employment and investment. We've factored in all of the stakeholders.
Next question, please. Yes, please. Number six. Hello.
Hello again. I do hope that there's going to be a 14% wage increase for your employees to thank them for all these transformations.
No, sir. Thank you for asking. As Patrick probably said, of course, we've compared this percentage to the wage increase for our employees over the same period of time without even taking into account 2025. It's equivalent to Paul's increase. The Board paid attention to this point. We're fully aligned. If you look at employees and their compensation, I'm talking about 2025, not 2024. This increase is for 2025.
I will not do the maths to cover three years rather than one. I think this question is really dear to your hearts. I suggest we continue. Next question, please. Yes, please. Number three.
Thank you for giving me the floor again, Mr. Chairman. What you have described is very positive when you described the future for Sanofi. Can you tell us why you have bought EUR 3 billion worth of Sanofi shares from L'Oréal that has a financial stake in the Sanofi Group?
To start with, I hope that in my preliminary words, I showed you that we were realistic as to the environment, the challenges, and the fact that it is necessary to continue the work that started. Maybe I was not clear enough. As I said before, 2024 was very positive when it comes to rolling out the strategy that we had hatched in autumn.
Yet it's a long road. This is in our medicines pipeline. This is where we will see that we are credible when we say we can replace Dupixent. For the time being, as you saw, the results are good. As far as capital allocation is concerned, we have a well-distributed allocation of capital. As we speak today, we've received EUR 10 billion because we have disposed of half of Opella. This is balanced. We said half of this would be earmarked for the share buyback. It's a way to remunerate you, the shareholders, as you've probably gathered, and it allows us to invest. In October 2023, we decided to invest an extra EUR 1 billion in R&D.
To the detriment of our short-term financial guidance, I can tell you that this was a decision we knew that at that moment it might have taken the markets back. We are thinking along the same lines in the field of acquisitions. We are quite active, as Paul and I said. We are looking actively at opportunities to add new companies in existing pipelines. Investments is what is dear to us. L'Oréal, a shareholder, said they were ready to sell shares. They asked us, and it is a good way for us to buy back EUR 5 billion of shares. The rest is done on the markets and is work in progress. I see that two people have asked questions for the second time. Has anybody new questions? Somebody new?
If you have no more questions, maybe we can enjoy a bit of a sunny day out there and we'll continue with the resolution. So far, I think we have no more questions. Oh, yes. You again. Did you want to ask another question, sir? No? I think we no longer have any more questions. The time has come for us to vote. Question off microphone. Answer. I think I answered your point, sir. Question off microphone.
Alors, alors, alors.
We innovate, but we've not yet thought about replacing any of our tangible Directors by robots. You're saying perhaps that Mr. Kron would be replaced by something else that I would call a tool? No, I'd rather stick to my teams, women and men. The executive teams and general management will help us roll out AI in the company.
I think it's better to digitize the company and not the Directors. Oh, yes, please, sir. A very final question, please. Question number four.
[Foreign language] I will try and ask my question. Sorry, it is a bit difficult for me. By the way, this is not a question that I want to ask. I would like to make a comparison. In the weeks to come, I've decided that I would attend more than six annual general meetings of companies in the CAC 40. I have seen that your company is the first company that communicates in such a way that I don't feel I have any disabilities because I see that you have used typists and I can follow everything. I would like to thank you very much for the French Federation of People with Hearing Difficulties.
Thank you very much, sir, for what you have just said. I will share your thanks with our teams. If I may, I would like to add something. In our society in general, we have to include people who are deaf on the job. AI can help. They can do many things, and they're very able thanks to AI. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you for sharing this with us. Now, I suggest that we move on now and that we vote on the resolutions. [Foreign language] I propose to move to the vote, where we will not read out all of the resolutions before we vote on them. Let me give the floor to Jeanne Kehren for the vote.
The attendance sheet is now stopped at 29,277 shareholders represented by themselves or proxies have represented or voted by correspondence or electronically, which means 926,201 shares, 76.6%. The use of the electronic box is going to be recalled by the presentation. To vote electronically, the vote is open. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, the box that was given to you is strictly personal. The number of votes you have or represent is loaded in the device and displayed on the screen. You will only use the green, yellow, and red keys. The green key is for, the yellow key is for abstention, and the red key corresponds to a vote against. After the reading of each of the resolutions, we will vote immediately, and we will say the vote is open.
At that moment, you will see on the screen a rectangle indicating the countdown and the number of seconds you have to vote. When the countdown is finished, it will be said the vote is closed, and you will no longer be able to vote. The display of results appears on the screen a few minutes after the vote. Last thing, thank you for turning off your cell phones during the vote and for giving back the devices when you leave the room. We can start. First resolution, approval of the individual company financial statements for the year ended December 31st. The vote is open. The vote is now over. The resolution is approved, 99.94%. Approval of the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024. Please vote. Please stop voting. Resolution is adopted, 99.95% approved.
Third, appropriation of profits for the year ended December 31st, 2024, and declaration of dividend. Please vote. The vote is over. Resolution is adopted, 99.81%. Fourth, approval of the share purchase agreement related to Sanofi's acquisition from L'Oréal of 29,556,600 Sanofi shares, representing 2.34% of the capital as part of the procedure for related party agreements covered by Articles L225, 38, and sequel of the French Commercial Code. Please vote. Please stop voting. The resolution is approved. Fifth, ratification of the co-opting of Jean-Paul Kress as a Director. The vote is open. The vote is now closed. Resolution is adopted, 99.44%. Sixth resolution, reappointment of Carole Ferrand as a Director. The vote is open. The vote is now closed. Resolution is approved, 97.9%. Seventh resolution, reappointment of Barbara Lavernos as a Director. The vote is open. The vote is now closed. Resolution is approved, 93.81%.
Eighth resolution, reappointment of Émile Voest as a Director. The vote is open. The vote is now closed. Resolution is approved, 99.41%. Ninth resolution, reappointment of Antoine Yver as a Director. The vote is open. The vote is now closed. Resolution is adopted, 98.99%. Tenth resolution, approval of the report on the compensation of corporate officers issued in accordance with Article L22109 of the French Commercial Code. The vote is open. The vote is now over. Resolution is carried, 94.30%. Eleventh, approval of the components of the compensation paid or awarded in respect of the year ended December 31st to Frédéric Oudéa, Chairman of the Board. The vote is now closed. Resolution is adopted, 98.72%. Twelfth, approval of the components of compensation paid or awarded in respect of the year ended December 31st, 2024, to Paul Hudson, CEO. The vote is open. The vote is now closed.
Resolution is carried, 92.43%. Thirteenth, approval of the compensation policy for Directors. The vote is open. The vote is now closed. Resolution is adopted, 99.53%. Fourteenth, approval of the compensation policy for the Chairman of the Board of Directors. The vote is open. The vote is now closed. The resolution is approved, 99.2%. Fifteenth resolution, approval of the compensation policy of the CEO. The vote is closed. The resolution is adopted, 75.36%. Sixteenth, authorization to the Board of Directors to carry out transactions in the company's shares usable outside the period of a public tender offer. The vote is open. The vote is now closed. Resolution is adopted, 99.27%. Extraordinary business, seventeenth, authorization to the Board of Directors to reduce the share capital by cancellation of treasury shares. The vote is open. The vote is now closed. The resolution is adopted, 99.86%.
Eighteenth, delegation to the Board of Directors of competence to decide to issue with shareholders preemptive rights, maintain shares and/or securities giving access to the share capital of the company of any subsidiary and of another company. The vote is open. The resolution is adopted, 94.25%. Nineteenth, delegation to the Board of Directors to compensate to decide to issue with preemptive rights, cancel shares and/or securities giving access to the share capital of the company of any subsidiary and/or of any other company via a public offering other than the type specified in Article 411-2 of the French Monetary Code. The vote is open. The vote is now closed. The resolution is adopted, 94.8%.
Twentieth, delegation to the Board of Directors of competence to decide to issue with preemptive rights, cancel shares and/or securities giving access to the share capital of the company of any subsidiary and/or any other company related to the company. The vote is open. The vote is now closed. The resolution is adopted, 93.34%. Twenty-first resolution, delegation to the Board of Directors of competence to decide to issue that instrument giving access to the share capital of subsidiaries and/or of any other company related to the company. The vote is open. The vote is now closed. Resolution is approved, 98.68%. Twenty-second, delegation to the Board of Directors of competence to increase the number of shares to be issued in the event of an issue of ordinary shares and/or of securities giving access to the share capital of the company. The vote is open. The vote is now over.
Resolution is adopted, 90.90%. Twenty-third resolution, delegation to the Board of Directors of competence with a view to the issuance with preemptive rights, cancel of shares giving access to the share capital of the company as a capital contribution in kind. The vote is open. The vote is closed. Resolution is adopted, 96.08%. Twenty-fourth, delegation to the Board of Directors of competence to decide to carry out increases in the share capital by incorporation of share premium reserves, profits, or other items. The vote is open. The vote is now over. The resolution is adopted, 99.53%. Twenty-fifth resolution, delegation to the Board of Directors of competence to decide on the issuance of shares or securities giving access to the company's share capital reserve for members of savings plans with waiver of preemptive rights in their favor. The vote is open. The vote is closed. Resolution is approved, 97.99%.
Twenty-sixth, delegation to the Board of Directors of competence to decide on the issuance of shares of securities giving access to the company's share capital to categories of beneficiaries consisting of employees and corporate officers of foreign subsidiaries with waiver of preemptive rights in their favor. The vote is open. The vote is over. Resolution is adopted, 98.20%. Twenty-seventh resolution, amendment of the company's articles of association. The vote is open. The vote is over. Resolution is adopted, 99.96%. Ordinary business, twenty-eighth resolution, powers to carry out formalities. The vote is open. The vote is now closed. Resolution is adopted, 99.98%. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. All resolutions have been voted. We are finished with the agenda. Please give back your voting and translation devices to hostesses. We will see you at the next general meeting that will take place on April 29, 2026.
Thank you for your attention and have a good rest of the day.