Sanofi-Aventis' "insulin city" and SoloSTAR investments paying dividends

Sanofi-Aventis' decision to invest 150.0 million euros ($220.7 million) in "insulin city," its insulin device R&D and fully-automated manufacturing base in Frankfurt, Germany, appears to have paid off handsomely. The company reports the site, covering 25,000 square meters (two football pitches) with capacity to turn out a million insulin pens daily, is keeping up with phenomenal rising global demand for its once-daily basal insulin analog Lantus (glargine). The site distributes worldwide.

Lantus, claimed to be the only basal insulin giving true 24-hour control from one dose, is now Sanofi's fastest growing product, seeing a 31% rise in the fourth quarter last year, 29% since launch, and annual sales of over 2.0 billion euros in 2007, of which 1.2 billion were US generated. Lantus is currently its number three product after Lovenox (enoxaparin) and Plavix (clopidogrel) but is rapidly outstripping them in growth, in 2007 Lovenox grew 13.4% and Plavix 9.5%, respectively.

"Lantus sales are way beyond expectations," commented Alexandre Moreau, vice president of global marketing for Sanofi's diabetes franchise at a recent media conference. "It's now the standard insulin in type 2 diabetes, is the number one prescribed insulin, the number two antidiabetic drug worldwide, and is the most cost-effective means of decreasing HbA1c percentage." Over six million patients use Lantus. It has a 67% share of the basal insulin market and, of the total insulin market, has a 42% share in Europe, 41% in the USA and 17% in the rest of the world, he added.