Sanofi-aventis More sweet than sour

Sanofi-aventis’ loss of its Lovenox patent case may seem like a critical hit. The blood thinner is the French pharma group’s biggest drug, with over E1.1bn of sales in the US alone last year. Investors knocked E5bn off of the group’s capitalisation in response. But Sanofi’s injury is more superficial than deep. For there is no way the co-plaintiffs, Teva and Amphastar, can introduce a generic version of the drug. There are two roadblocks in front of the plaintiffs. First, it currently can’t be d...