A "rigorous" review of its R&D portfolio has led sanofi aventis to axe the development of 14 drugs/projects; four of which were in Phase III development. The next few months will also decide the fate of a further four products, which will be dependent on results from clinical trials. The cull will enable the company to "refocus" its portfolio on the most promising projects and to reallocate resources to external R&D alliances.

The victims include the anti-depressant saredutant and the treatment for high-cholesterol levels AVE5530, which both failed to demonstrate sufficient efficacy in clinical studies. Additionally, the company has also handed the rights to Trovax, a cancer vaccine in Phase III, back to its development partner Oxford Biomedica (UK), along with a payment settlement of $16.5 million (12.4 million euro).

In an interview with EuroBusiness Media, Chris Viehbacher, CEO of sanofi aventis, explained that projects were looked at from four angles: innovation, value for patients, risk, and likelihood of revenue generation. For the halted projects in Phase II and Phase III, Viehbacher said: "We made some decisions on the basis of either the product didn't have sufficient efficacy, there were some safety issues, or they really didn't deliver what we were looking for in terms of added value to patients."

The cull will leave the company with a pipeline of 51 drugs, but Viehbacher also stated that the company would be looking outside to "supplement" the portfolio. "Although we have some very strong opportunities in our pipeline…we don't have enough new products in our pipeline to really compensate for the products that we will lose when products such as Plavix go off patent in 2012," said Viehbacher. To this end, the company will be on the prowl to acquire other companies that can help it build on platforms for vaccines, OTCs and generics.

According to a report released by Urch Publishing in April 2009, sanofi is well placed for a mega deal, even though the company has previously said that it favours purchases below $15 billion (11.3 billion euro).

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