Sanofi-Aventis Group
Sanofi-Aventis describes itself as 'one of the leading pharmaceutical companies worldwide and number 1 in Europe' [1] It was formed in 2004 when Sanofi-Synthélabo purchased Aventis.
They claim to be a 'socially responsible player in the healthcare sector' with a commitment to ensuring access 'for the most underprivileged populations to vaccines and medicines'[2]
However, they voice concern at the actions of countries who are engaged in trying to reduce the price of pharmaceutical products. Their Annual Report states that the development of generic varieties of medicines and vaccines and the actions of 'certain countries' who try to 'circumvent patent rights to allow their underprivileged populations to gain access to medicines' are 'unfavourable factors' facing the pharmaceutical industry. In the opening statements of their Annual Report, the Chairman and CEO stresses that ensuring intellectual property rights and patents are 'critical issues' facing Sanofi-Aventis both now and in the future. They go on to report how in 2006 they succeeded in imposing a 'preliminary injunction' effectively blocking any new deliveries of a generic version of Plavix into the market from August 2006 onwards [3]
Plavix works by inhibiting blood clots in order to reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks. It is distributed by: Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership Bridgewater, NJ 08807 [4]
Management Committee
In their 2006 Annual Report, Sanofi-Aventis list their management committee as follows...[5]
- Gerard Le Fur- CEO
- Hanspeter Spek - Executive Vice President, Pharmaceutical Operations.
- Jean-Claude Leroy - Executive Vice President, Finance & Legal.
- Pierre Chancel - Senior Vice President, Global Marketing.
- Olivier Charmeil - Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Operations Asia/Pacific.
- Marc Cluzel - Senior Vice President, Scientific & Medical Operations.
- Laurence Debroux - Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer.
- Philippe Fauchet - Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Operations Japan.
- Belen Garijo - Senior Vice President, Phamaceutical Operations Europe (excluding France & Germany) & Canada.
- Gregory Irace - Senior Vice President, Phamaceutical Operations U.S.
- Michel Labie - Senior Vice President, Communications, Institutional & Professional Relations.
- Marie-Helene Laimay - Senior Vice President, Audit & Internal Control Assessment.
- Christian Lajoux - Senior Vice President, Phamaceutical Operations, France.
- Jean-Michel Levy - Senior Vice President, Business Development.
- Gilles Lhernould - Senior Vice President, Industrial Affairs.
- Karen Lineham - Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs & general Counsel.
- Heinz-Werner Meier - Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Operations Germany & Corporate Human Resources.
- Antoine Ortoli - Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Operations Intercontinental.
- Philippe Peyre - Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs.
- David Williams - Senior Vice President, Vaccines.
The Annual Report continues by reporting that as of January 2007 Jean-Francois Dehecq takes on the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Sanofi Pasteur is the Vaccines Division of Sanofi-Aventis [6]
Affiliations
Sanofi-Aventis is a client of Intangible Business [7]
In November 2006, Pharmafocus [8] report that Sanofi-Aventis 'has retained the agency Euro RSCG Life to promote two of its major brands around the world, insulin analogue Lantus and anti-thrombosis drug Lovenox/Clexane'. Pharmafocus describle Euro RSCG Life as 'part of the larger Havas group, one of the global giants of the communications industry competing for major accounts from pharma and other blue chip industries'. The report continues by stating that another business unit of the Havas group 'Euro RSCG C&O has also been awarded Sanofi-Aventis' corporate communications account, including internal editorial programmes and publications'.
Sanofi-Aventis claims to have strengthened its presence in the biotechnology area in 2006 through an agreement with Innogenetics and Inserm (through its affiliate Inserm Transfert) for a 2 year joint project in Alzheimer's disease. [9]
They also work in collaborative partnership with the Pediatric Dengue Fever Vaccine Initiative (PDVI), a programe of the International Vaccine Initiative financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. [10]
In November 2007 it was announced that Sanofi-Aventis had entered into a global, strategic collaboration with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. to 'to discover, develop, and commercialize fully-human therapeutic antibodies utilizing Regeneron’s proprietary VelociSuite of technologies... As part of the research agreement, sanofi-aventis will make an $85 million upfront payment to Regeneron and will fund up to $475 million of research over the next five years.[11]
References
- ↑ Sanofi-Aventis Annual report 2006 page 1. Accessed 30th November 2007.
- ↑ Sanofi-Aventis Annual report 2006 page 1. Accessed 30th November 2007.
- ↑ Sanofi-Aventis Annual report 2006 pages 5 & 20. Accessed 30th November 2007.
- ↑ Plavix product details Accessed 30th November 2007
- ↑ Sanofi-Aventis Annual report 2006 Accessed 30th November 2007.
- ↑ Sanofi-Aventis Annual report 2006 Page 22. Accessed 30th November 2007.
- ↑ Intangible Business website Accessed 30th November 2007.
- ↑ Pharmafocus website Accesses 30th November 2007
- ↑ Sanofi-Aventis Annual report 2006. Accessed 30th November 2007.
- ↑ Sanofi-Aventis Annual report 2006 Page 18. Accessed 30th November 2007.
- ↑ http://www.smartbrief.com/news/aaaa/industryBW-detail.jsp?id=7F6F275C-8859-4732-AE08-3BC9CFA13A82 Smartbrief website] Accessed 30th November 2007.
