Sanofi Aventis’ guidance for year cut due to “adverse events”

Sanofi-Aventis has reduced its predicted earnings-per-share guidance to two per cent growth for 2006 due to a series of “major adverse events”, the company has said.

Foremost of these is the ongoing legal battle concerning Plavix, the Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb drug that has recently been sold in the US in a generic form by Apotex, a generic drug manufacturer.

Although a US district court has ordered Apotex to cease manufacturing Plavix, Sanofi-Aventis’ second-best selling drug, it did not order the company to recall products already distributed or ask Apotex to return sales revenues.

Sanofi-Aventis revealed it is not known how much Plavix was sold by Apotex, although based on market information, the company said it was “possible” that Apotex had already sold enough in the US to “satisfy substantially all market demand through to the end of 2006”.

France’s largest pharmaceutical company also revealed that the recent availability of generic versions of Allegra, Amaryl, Arava and DDAVP in the US are also likely to impact upon earnings, as well as the Japanese launch of Plavix and unfavourable exchange rates between the euro and dollar.

Plavix is an antiplatelet drug, or bloodthinner, known by its generic name as clopidogrel. It is available in the UK and is used widely in treating coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease and peripheral vascular disease.

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