Sanofi SA will invest around 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to build a new insulin production base in Beijing, its biggest single investment in China to date and part of a broader push to boost manufacturing capacity in Asia.

The French drugmaker said that the investment of about 1 billion euros will enhance the production and manufacturing of insulin, focusing on serving local diabetic patients.

Sanofi’s latest capital outlay in China will cover the development of a new insulin plant in the nation’s capital.

Sanofi plans to invest around 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) to build a new insulin production base in Beijing, which will mark the French drugmaker's largest single investment in China, the company said on Monday.

The French pharma firm is seeking to increase insulin production in Beijing as trade tensions between the EU and China simmer on.

Sanofi is one of the world's top producers of insulin, and the China market for treatment of the illness is huge: Some 140 million people in the mainland, nearly 12% of its population, had the illness as of 2021,

The China-based subsidiary of French pharma major Sanofi revealed it has signed a memorandum of cooperation with Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology and Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone today to invest around 1 billion euros ($1.

French drugmaker Sanofi plans to invest 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) to build a new insulin production base in Beijing, a local authority in the city said on Monday, citing a memorandum of understanding the company signed with an economic zone.