• November 1, 2007

Paris-based pharma company Sanofi-Aventis reported a 9% gain in third-quarter net profit, lifted by a strong increase in the sales of vaccines and the blood-thinning drug Plavix, which is no longer facing generic competition, thanks to the courts upholding the company's patent.

The world's third-largest pharmaceutical company by prescription sales saw net profit after minority interests in the three months up to Sept. 30 rise to $2.67 billion. Net sales grew $10.13 billion. U.S. sales were up 8.1%.

Sales of Sanofi-Aventis' top 15 products grew just 0.4%, damaged by competition from generic versions of its sleeping pill Ambien IR in the United States and cancer treatment Eloxatin in Europe. The company's vaccines business posted a 49% percent rise in sales due to flu vaccines, sustained sales growth for meningitis treatment Menactra and tetanus-diphteria-pertussis treatment Adacel.

Sales of blood thinner Plavix rose 12.9% on a comparable basis. Plavix, Sanofi-Aventis' second-best-selling drug, is marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in the United States, where sales were crushed in August last year amid competition from a cheaper generic from Canada's Apotex Inc. In June, a federal court ruled that the Apotex generic product infringed Plavix's patent, affirming its exclusivity until November 2011.

Sanofi-Aventis also benefited from the sales of anti-thrombotic Lovenox, which grew 12.6% on a comparable basis in the quarter, thanks to a strong performance in the U.S. Sales of insulin Lantus rose nearly 31%, lifted by the launch of a new disposable pen used to administer the product.

--Tanya Irwin