Sanofi sees profit slide in Q2

Sanofi has reported a 13 per cent fall in net income to €2.15bn for the second quarter of 2011 following increased generic competition.

The company's total sales grew by 7 per cent to €8.3bn in the second quarter of the year. However, excluding Genzyme, sales fell by 4 per cent, reflecting sales lost to generic competition. Sales in the US rose by 3 per cent, Western European sales increased by 1 per cent and emerging market sales rose by 12 per cent.

The company's generics business recorded sales of €434m in the second quarter, an increase of 18 per cent.

Christopher Viehbacher, CEO, said: "As expected, the second quarter is the most challenging this year, given the level of generic competition. Against this, growth platforms continue to perform well and strong progress has been achieved in the integration of Genzyme and Merial."

The company reported that at as of the end of July, its R&D portfolio comprised 65 new molecular entities projects and vaccines in clinical development of which 17 are in phase III or have been submitted to the health authorities for approval.