Sanofi-Aventis ‘confident’ despite profit falls

Despite an expected decline in profits during the third quarter of 2006, attributed largely to fewer sales of its Plavix product following increased competition from generic drugs in the US, Sanofi-Aventis is expected to recover with the introduction of a new product.

Analysts polled by AFX News expect Sanofi-Aventis to report 12 to 27 per cent loss in net profits during the last quarter, to 1.4 (937 million pounds) to 1.7 billion euros (1.13 billion pounds).

According to AFX News, the company’s ant-obesity drug, Acomplia, recently introduced into the UK and European markets, could become a “new blockbuster drug” in the near future. The company is believed to be seeking approval for the product in the US.

Commenting on the drug, analysts at Exane BNP Paribas, said: “Our sales estimate for Acomplia in the third quarter is 30 million euro (20.1 million pounds), but more important will be the prescription trends, which we anticipate should be strong.”

The firm’s US partner, Bristol-Myers Sqibb, recently announced that the launch of generic Plavix products had a negative impact upon its own results during the third quarter.