FRANCE'S SANOFI-AVENTIS TO BEGIN US PLAVIX PATENT TRIAL ON MARCH 4

France-based drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis has announced that a forthcoming US trial on its blockbuster blood thinner Plavix is to begin on March 4. The trial date is widely expected to allow the company to earn the company valuable revenue on the antiplatelet product.

Sanofi-Aventis' court action challenges attempts by Canada's Apotex and leading Indian generics maker Dr. Reddy's to market a lower-price version of the drug. The two companies have argued that Plavix, which has a patent scheduled to expire in 2011, is ineligible for intellectual property protection. According to the Canadian and Indian drugmakers, Plavix is simply a variant of an earlier product, on which a patent expired in 2003.

Plavix is currently one of Sanofi-Aventis' most lucrative products, and is expected to have sales of some EUR6bn (US$7.94bn) in 2006. In 2004 alone, earnings on the drug totalled EUR2.96bn (US$3.92bn), or about 14% of the company's total revenue in the period. The US market, where Plavix is marketed by drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb, accounts for about half of worldwide earnings on the drug.