Sanofi To Double Profits With Avapro & Plavix

French health and beauty company Sanofi expects pharmaceutical sales of19 billion French francs ($3.28 billion) for 1997, a rise of 9% compared to last year, and aims to double its profits within the next four-to-five years, according to chairman Jean-Francois Dehecq.

Addressing an analysts' meeting in London, Mr Dehecq noted that this growth would be principally driven by the company's two new products; its angiotensin II blocker Avapro (irbesartan), colaunched with Bristol-Myers Squibb in the UK in September as Aprovel (Marketletter September 29), and its antithrombotic Plavix (clopidogrel), for which marketing clearance has just been granted by the US Food and Drug Administration (Marketletter November 24).

Cost Containment In response to the view that the price of Plavix (some estimates put the figure at triple the price of aspirin) may be prohibitively high, Daniel Welch, vice president of international marketing, said cost containment was clearly an issue, but estimates had been on the inflated side. He added that there were distinct markets for both aspirin and clopidogrel, and that Sanofi is to consider the feasibility of developing a combination of the two.