BERLIN, Aug 1 (Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi

will invest 1.3 billion euros ($1.40 billion) in a

new insulin production facility at its existing site in

Frankfurt, where it makes insulin brand Lantus, the company said

on Thursday.

The investment will pave the way for the construction of a

36,000-square-metre facility that will replace Sanofi's current

insulin production plant in Frankfurt's Hoechst district by

2029, the company said.

Last month, German media cited government sources as saying

Sanofi had changed course after initial considerations to

transfer Lantus production to France.

At that time, the drugmaker had been considering an

investment of between 1.3 billion euros and 1.5 billion euros in

a new facility in Frankfurt, reports said.

Among recent wins by the German government to attract

healthcare investments, Daiichi Sankyo ( DSKYF ) said in February

it would spend about 1 billion euros to boost its work on

precision cancer drugs near Munich.

U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly ( LLY ) in November last year

pledged to invest 2.3 billion euros to make obesity and diabetes

drugs in Germany.

($1 = 0.9275 euros)