About the Manufacturer
Sanofi-Aventis

Sanofi-aventis, headquartered in Paris, France, is the world's third largest company in the pharmaceutical industry behind Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline but above Johnson & Johnson, Merck, AstraZeneca and Novartis. Sanofi-Aventis engages in the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products for sale principally in the prescription market, but also in OTC. Sanofi-aventis covers 7 therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, thrombosis, oncology, diabetes, central nervous system, internal medicine and vaccines (with its subsidiary Sanofi-Pasteur).

Sanofi-Aventis was formed in 2004 when Sanofi-Synthélabo merged with Aventis. In early 2004, Sanofi-Synthélabo made a hostile takeover bid worth €47.8 bn against Aventis. Initially, Aventis rejected the bid because it offered inferior value based on the company's share value. The three-month takeover battle concluded when Sanofi-Synthélabo launched a friendly bid of €54.5 bn in place of the previously rejected hostile bid. Government intervention also played an active role. French government, desiring a local merger solution, put heavy pressure on Sanofi-Synthélabo to raise its bid for Aventis after it became known that Novartis, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, was in the running.

In 2003, sanofi-aventis's consolidated sales was €25 bn. It has operations in more than 100 countries throughout the 5 continents and has 99,700 employees worldwide. Research and development investment was €4 bn.

• Sales by activity breakdown: 39% from Cardiovascular/Thrombosis, 29% from Central Nervous System, 18% from Internal Medicine, 11% from Oncology, 3% from other pharmaceutical products.
• Sales by geographic area breakdown: 58% from Europe, 24% from U.S., 18% from rest of the world.