Sanofi best-sellers help lift net profit in 3Q
French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis said Friday that higher sales of blood thinners Lovenox and Plavix and diabetes treament Lantus helped lift net profit by 1.9 percent in the third quarter.
Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis said its adjusted net profit was 1.89 billion euros ($2.46 billion) in the period. The figure is adjusted to exclude the acquisition and restructuring costs related to the 2004 acquisition of Aventis by Sanofi-Synthelabo.
The world's third-largest pharmaceutical company by prescription sales also hiked its growth target for earnings per share this year to 9 percent on an adjusted basis and excluding foreign exchange impact, up from its July guidance of an 8 percent increase.