Sanofi-aventis, the World's third largest pharma entity, has achieved satisfactory performance during the fourth quarter and full year ended December 2009 on account of implementation of new strategy. The company's net profit for the quarter ended December 2009 increased by 10.4 per cent to Euro 1,796 million from Euro1,627 million in the corresponding period of last year. Its net sales increased by 3.8 per cent to Euro7,361 million from Euro 7,089 million. Its sales in Europe improved by 2.6 per cent to Euro 2,892 million, US by 9.8 per cent to Euro 2,252 and Latin America by 31.6 per cent to Euro 582 million.

Pharmaceutical sales increased by 2.7 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2009 to Euro 6,263 million and sales of Plalvix/Iscover moved up by one per cent to Euro 1,614 million and that of Lantus, the world's leading insulin brand, moved up by 16.7 per cent to Euro 763 million.

For the full year ended December 2009, sanofi's net sales increased by 6.3 per cent to Euro 29,306 million from Euro 27,568 million in the previous year. Its pharmaceutical sales increased by 3.7 per cent to Euro 25,823 million and that of consumer health care grew by 26.8 per cent to Euro 1,430 million. Its generic division sales touched to Euro 1,012 million, a triple growth, mainly on account of consolidation of Zentiva, kendrick and Medley from second quarter. The new generics platform in Europe, combining the operations of Zentiva and sanofi-aventis, is now fully operational. The animal health division, Merial, a wholly-owned subsidiary, achieved sales growth of 0.4 per cent to $2,554 during 2009.

Its net profit went up by 17.9 per cent to Euro 8,471 million from Euro 7,186 million. The earnings per share for the year worked out to Euro 6.49 as against Euro 5.49 in the previous year. The management declared equity dividend of Euro 2.40 per share as against Euro 2.20 in the last year. Commenting on the Group's performance Christopher A Viehbacher, CEO, said, "2009 was the first year of implementation of our new strategy. Major steps have already been achieved in strengthening our growth platforms and reinforcing our R&D pipeline while delivering a double-digit EPS growth."

The worldwide sales of Plavix increased by 6.2 per cent to Euro 6,782 million. Japanese sales at Euro 339 million showed robust growth of 58.9 per cent, taking the product's presence in the 'Other countries' region over Euro one billion for the first time. Lantus recorded sales growth of 22.5 per cent to Euro 3,080 million, Lovenox of 8.8 per cent to Euro 3,043 million, Plavix by 0.2 per cent to Euro 2,623 million, Taxotere by 6.1 per cent to Euro 2,177 million and Aprovel by 4.7 per cent to Euro 1,236 million.

The Human vaccines business delivered strong growth of 19.2 per cent to Euro 3,483 million driven by the strong performance of Pentacel, as well as the A/H1N1 vaccine shipments. The Human Vaccines business represented 11.9 per cent of the Group's total net sales in 2009 as against 10.4 per cent in the previous year. The sales of influenza vaccines went up by 46.7 per cent to Euro 1,062 million and that of Polio/Pertussis/Hib. Vaccines increased by 22.8 per cent to Euro 968 million.

Sanofi Pasteur supplied over 280 million doses of influenza vaccines in 2009, including over 100 million doses of monovalent pandemic vaccines and 180 million of trivalent seasonal influenza vaccines, representing an estimated 40 per cent of global demand in the northern hemisphere and 75 per cent in the southern hemisphere. Sanofi Pasteur's sales in emerging market reached at Euro 932 million, an increase of of 16 per cent. However, Sanofi Pasteur MSD, the joint venture with Merck & Co in Europe, declined by 11 per cent to Euro 1,132 million mainly due to the drop in sales of Gardasil by 32.4 per cent to Euro 395 million.

Shantha, the Indian vaccine manufacturer controlled via Sanofi Pasteur's third quarter acquisition of ShanH (a French holding company set up by Merieux Alliance), has recorded net sales of Euro 17 million since the acquisition. Shantha provides access to a promising R&D pipeline, a solid vaccine portfolio and additional manufacturing capacities to address the needs of the emerging markets. In December Shantha launched ShanChol, India's first oral cholera vaccine. In 2009, Shantha was also awarded a 3-year contract from a United Nations agency worth a total of $340 million for the supply of SHAN5 in 2010-2012 period.

Despite expected generic competition, and given the performance of growth platforms, sanofi expects growth in business EPS at constant exchange rates to be between 2 per cent and 5 per cent in 2010, barring major unforseen adverse events. This guidance does not take into account potential generic competition for Lovenox.